
Class L- Ca (n 4^ 



GopightN^_ 



Ci)FUFUGHT DEPOSm 



SOME LETTERS OF 
AUGUSTUS PEABODY GARDNER 



Augustus Peabody Gardne?- 

From a photograph by Curtis Bell, New York 



SOME LETTERS OF 

AUGUSTUS PEABODY GARDNER 

EDITED BY 

CONSTANCE GARDNER 

With Portraits 




BOSTON AND NEW YORK 

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 

The Riverside Press Cambridge 

1920 






COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY CONSTANCE GARDNER 
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



2.^ ^ 






"^ 

tf 

s' 



TO 



CONSTANCE GARDNER MINOT 



CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION Xi 

I. THE SPANISH WAR 1 

II. CONGRESS AND POLITICS 39 

III. WAR-TIME ACTIVITIES 85 

IV. THE ARMY AGAIN 112 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

AUGUSTUS PEABODY GARDNER Frontispiece 

CAPTAIN GARDNER IN THE SPANISH 

WAR 28 

CONGRESSMAN GARDNER IN WASH- 



INGTON 



80 



MAJOR GARDNER AT CAMP WHEELER, 

NOVEMBER, 1917 1^° 



INTRODUCTION 

AUGUSTUS PEABODY GARDNER 
^ was born in Boston on November 5, 
1865. He received his early education at 
Hopkinson's School in Boston and at St. 
Paul's School, Concord, New Hampshire, 
and was graduated from Harvard in 1886. 
After graduation he made his permanent 
home in Hamilton and was in business in 
Boston. In 1892 he married Constance 
Lodge, only daughter of Senator Henry 
Cabot Lodge. 

In 1898, at the outbreak of the war with 
Spain, he received a Commission as Cap- 
tain and Assistant Adjutant-General, and was 
assigned to the Staff of Major-General James 
H. Wilson. He served in the Porto Rican 
campaign and was recommended for a Brevet 
Majority, " for gallant and meritorious serv- 
ices," though he did not actually receive his 
Brevet rank till some years afterwards. 



INTRODUCTION 

In the autumn of 1899 he was elected to 
the Massachusetts State Senate and served 
two terms. In 1902 he was elected to Con- 
gress from the Sixth District of Massachu- 
setts. His service in Congress was continuous 
until he resigned on May 22, 1917, to enter 
the United States Army. He was commis- 
sioned as Colonel and Adjutant-General, and 
was assigned to the Staff of Major-General 
J. Franklin Bell, M.H., commanding the De- 
partment of the Northeast, at Governor's 
Island, New York. Here he remained until 
August, 1917, when he was ordered to report 
to Major-General Francis J. Kernan, D.S.M., 
commanding the 31st Division, at Camp 
Wheeler, Georgia. 

In December, 1917, he was, at his own re- 
quest, transferred to the line, which necessi- 
tated his losing two grades in rank. On De- 
cember 8 he came to Washington and was 
" demoted." He was then sworn in again as 
a Major and was assigned to the command 
of a battalion in the 121st (Georgia) Infan- 

C xii ] 



INTRODUCTION 
try. He served a month with his battalion 
and was then stricken with pneumonia. He 
died at the Base Hospital, Camp Wheeler, 
Georgia, on January 14, 191 8. He was fifty- 
two years old. 

C. G. 



SOME LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS 
PEABODY GARDNER 

I 
THE SPANISH WAR 

To Hon. Henry Cabot Lodge 

Boston^ April 6, 1898 

Dear Mr. Lodge: 

George Lyman i has just read me a long 
letter which he has written you on the situa- 
tion as it is at this end. What he says about 
the sentiment here, I am afraid, is true. Eu- 
gene Thayer is the only man this morning 
that I have seen who felt at all warlike. 
Even the Hamilton carpenter with whom 
I talked this morning said he couldn't see 
how any sensible man could want war. 
Whether this anti-war feeling is manufac- 

^ Hon. George H. Lyman, a leading Republican in 
Massachusetts, and at one time Collector of the Port of 
Boston. 

C 1 ] 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
tured or not I cannot tell, but I am afraid it 
exists. 

Of course it is for you to decide as seems 
best to you. I dare say there are a great 
many aspects of the situation which I cannot 
see ; but I wish to say as strongly as possible 
that, if you decide to oppose the President, 
you will have at least one man who will do 
all in his power to uphold you. Of course, 
you know perfectly well that anything which 
hurts you politically finishes me as well. But 
this does not alter my views as to the right 
and wrong of the question. 

Sincerely yours 

A. P. Gardner 



To His Wife 

Chattanooga^ Tenn. 

May 26, 1898 

We had a most interesting trip down, as 
Fitzhugh Lee's ^ car went on our train from 

^ Major-General Fitzhugh Lee, a nephew of General 
Robert E. Lee. 



C 2 ] 



TO HIS WIFE 
Danville to Salisbury, and there were crowds 
to greet him at every station. At i a.m., as 
we were peacefully sleeping, a detail from a 
Young Ladies' College at Asheville, N.C., got 
on the sleeping-car and did not subside until 
they had given us the college yell several 
times. 

We arrived here in the morning, put 
on our uniforms, and reported. I was then 
turned over to General Wilson, i where a 
tent was pitched for me and I spent the 
night. The General, I think, regards me in 
the light of a sacred white elephant. 

The camp is lovely with cool breezes and 
shade trees among the mountains. I slept 
last night under a blanket. 

There is another amateur in the staff awk- 
ward squad ! 

^ Major-General James H. Wilson, a cavalry com- 
mander with General Philip Sheridan in the War of the 
Rebellion and the captor of Jefferson Davis, Command- 
ing General of the Sixth and subsequently of the First 
Army Corps in the war with Spain. 

C33 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 

To His Wife 

Hdqrs. \st Div. 1st Corps 
Camp G. H. Thomas^ Ga. 

May 29, 1898 

Dearest Constance : 

I HAVE not had a second to myself since 
I last wrote you; but as today is Sunday I 
shall be able to spare as much as one hour 
in the twenty-four. 

Fortunately I have to bend my whole 
mind into learning my business, and I am 
told that I am getting ahead very well. I was 
none too well for two days, having caught a 
cold and sore throat. I am feeling tip-top now, 
however, and the cold did not interfere with 
my working fourteen hours or more a day. 

There is a good deal of suffering among 
the troops, I am sorry to say. Insufficient 
water is one of the causes ; but food supply 
is not yet well organized. Thousands of the 
men have no uniform nor much of anything 
else. There seems to be plenty of tenting 
and transportation, however. 

[14 3 



TO HIS WIFE 
I give you my work yesterday : 

A.M. 

5.30 Reveille. Dressed, fixed camp, 

1,000,000 odd jobs. 
6.30 Breakfast. 1,000,000 odd jobs. 
7.30-8.30 Fatigue duty. (Bossing job of polic- 
ing and cleaning camp.) 
8.30-9.30 Rode on business to Ordnance and 
Quartermaster's Headqrts. 
9.30-10 Fatigue duty. (Raising hell gener- 
ally with Quartermaster Sergeant 
and Police Detail for not working 
quick enough or thoroughly enough.) 
10-11 Odd jobs connected with officers' 

mess. 
11-12 Rode on visit to 8th Mass. (about 
2 miles). 

P.M. 

12-12.20 Dinner. 
12.20-4 Adj't. Gen'l office work. Briefing, 
endorsing, etc. 
4-5 Odd jobs. 

5-6 Office work and ride inspecting drill. 
6-7 Inspecting parade with Gen'l Wil- 
son, which includes riding furiously 

CO 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 

all over Hell's Kitchen to find all 
sorts of people who are riding all 
over the same Kitchen to find other 
people. 
7-8 Changing clothes and supper. 
8-8.30 Odd jobs and visit of Col. and Lt. 

Col. of 12th N.Y. 
8.30-9 (Tattoo.) Office work. 
9-10.30 Sword drill and odd studies from 
manuals. 
10.30-11.30 Hat talk with the night owl officers. 
11.45 Downy. 

General Wilson is a remarkable man. I 
have not time to write more. Best love to 
you and baby. 

To His Wife 

Hdqrs. \st Div. 1st Corps 
Camp Geo. H. Thomas., Ga. 

June 2, 1898 

My dearest Constance: 
It makes a man exceedingly proud of his 
countrymen to see thousands on thousands of 
lads with clean-cut faces and clean habits all 

C6] 



TO HIS WIFE 
looking exactly alike whether from North, 
South, East or West. 

Things are still so disorganized that rations, 
clothes, etc., do not always arrive, and most 
of the boys are dead broke and will not get 
their pay (Lord and the Department know 
why) until July i. The consequence is a good 
deal of hardship. Between ourselves you have 
no conception of the inefficiency of the De- 
partment and resulting indignation among 
the officers and misery among a few of the 
men. 

My eyes have gone back on me so I can- 
not write you a long letter; but otherwise I 
am well and should be happy if you and baby 
were here. 

I wish you would make me a present of a 
cavalry sabre and have it marked. The nasty 
little thing I got in Washington is worthless 
and bent and gone up spout generally. You 
do not need to get any particular kind ; but 
just a good substantial sabre, marked from 
you to me. 

117 ] 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
The enlisted men are many of them from 
the best families of the country. One of the 
orderlies here owns a yacht. A corporal in 
the camp is son of a West Point graduate and 
general of the Civil War. There is a private 
in the 2d Wisconsin who is a West Point 
graduate and was nine years an officer in the 
Army. 



To His Wife 

Hdqrs. 1st Div. Ist Corps 
Camp Geo. If. Thomas, Ga. 

June 5, 1898 

My dearest Constance . 
Thank the lamb for her pansy and give her 
a kiss for me. I enclose a bit of mistletoe 
which a private in the 5th Illinois has just 
given me. 

Your question of whether we are likely 
to go to Cuba necessitates my making a rather 
complicated explanation. 

General Wilson is commander of the 6th 
Corps, an organization which consists merely 

c 8 : 



TO HIS WIFE 
of a staff of a few men ; but as yet no troops. 
For the present he is also commander of the 
1st Division of the ist Corps under General 
Brooke who commands the ist Corps. 

Now several things may happen. If the 
war is to continue till winter a Sixth Corps 
will be needed, and only a few days' obser- 
vation is required to convince any one that 
such a Corps organized by General Wilson 
could give double discount and beat any other 
corps here. This work of organization will 
take several months. The troops that have 
left here, presumably for Cuba, were not Jit 
to go. 

Now General Wilson will probably decide 
shortly whether he will organize a corps of 
his own or get a command in a half-fit organi- 
zation bound for Cuba earlier and unlikely to 
do him much credit. He has told me that he 
will take me with him whatever he does, un- 
less I can better myself. If I could get a line 
commission in the 8th Massachusetts, I might 
take it, in which case I might be sent to Cuba 

L9 2 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
any time or not till winter. I am just as likely 
to guess wrong as right ; but all the Regular 
Army men here advise me to stick to General 
Wilson. If the enemy were strong, of course 
that would be best, as his corps, if he organ- 
ized it himself, would be hot stuff. I will post 
you on any change in the situation. 

I had a terrible day yesterday. The Adju- 
tant-General went to town for the day and I 
took his duties and responsibilities. I worked 
from 8 A.M. to 7 p.m. (ten minutes out for 
dinner). Everybody works like mad here. 

1 saw a review of a division ( nine thousand 
men) yesterday. It was an impressive sight. 

Majors Flagler 1 and Reber 2 are my two 
greatest friends on the Staff. They are about 
my age, both regulars and both tough. 

* Major Clement A. Flagler, U.S.A., Engineers. War 
rank in 1918, Major-General. 

2 Major Samuel Reber, U.S.A., Signal Corps. Colonel 
in 1916, now dead. 



C 1° 1 



TO HIS WIFE 



To His Wife 



Hdqrs. 1st Div. 1st Corps 
Camp Geo. H. Thomas, Ga. 

June 12, 1898 

My dearest Constance : 

We had a review of our division yesterday with 

6000 men under arms. It was a grand sight. 

It is awfully hard to tell where we are at. 
It looks a little as if the Government meant 
to leave General Wilson without troops. 

If I can get into the line in the 8th Massa- 
chusetts as a Second Lieutenant, I think I 
shall perhaps resign my commission as a Staff 
officer. I think I can get a lieutenancy in 
the 14th New York; but shall probably not 
take it, as I am as well off here. I think the 
8th Massachusetts much more likely to get 
to Cuba than General Wilson. Staff duty I 
like ; but of course the fighting line is pref- 
erable. One is about as dangerous as the other. 

The health of the troops is improving fast, 
I am glad to say, and the division is progress- 
ing fast. 

I '1 1 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
I am studying infantry drill a great deal so 
that if I get into the line I may know my busi- 
ness, and am working hard at other things. 
Best love to yourself and baby. 



To His Wife 

Hdqrs. \st Div. 1st Corps 
Camp Geo. H. T/iomas^ Ga. 

June 19, 1898 

My dearest Constance : 
I AM getting quite thin on the hard work ; 
but not getting hard, as I have very little 
time for exercise. I wear my glasses a good 
deal now; but I think the trouble with my 
eyes is in the nature of pink-eye. 

The sword is very much admired by every 
one here and I think it a beauty. 

I think my chance to get into the 8th Mas- 
sachusetts will peter out; first, because the 
expected vacancy is no longer expected ; sec- 
ond, because the General jumped on me when 
I suggested the scheme. If my eyes give out, 
however, I have got to get into the line. 

C 12 1 



TO HIS WIFE 

I get a good many pleasant things said to 
me about the way my work is done ; but this 
is largely accounted for by the fact that all 
the political appointments start with the pre- 
sumption of incompetence. 

The 6th Corps troops will begin to arrive 
about the first of the month and then we shall 
see things hum. The General is head and 
shoulders above all the rest in competence 
and his command will be a hummer. 



To His Wife 

Hdqrs. 1st Div. 1st Corps 
Camp Geo. H. Thomas., Ga. 

June 24, 1898 

My dearest Constance : 
There is a rumor here that the 8th Massa- 
chusetts is to go at once to Santiago. The 
Captain of the Salem Company has resigned 
and the vacancy ( between ourselves strictly ) 
has been offered to Jacque Peabodyi whose 
father and grandfather were captains of the 

^ Captain Jacob C. R. Peabody, of Salem. 
I 13 ■} 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
Salem Company. If he declines, it will prob- 
ably be offered to me, and I shall accept it 
if I am allowed to. In case orders were re- 
ceived to move before Jacque's answer arrives, 
it will be offered to me and I shall try to get 
my discharge by telegraph and accept it. Of 
course, I shall keep you informed by wire if 
anything happens. 

The land battle in Cuba has driven every 
one here wild with anxiety to get off. The 
6th Corps will begin to receive troops about 
July 1 . I expect the regiment Frosty i is in 
will be in the Corps. I fancy that what Gen- 
eral Wilson is counting on is being the man 
to take Havana at the end of the year ; but I 
should rather take my chances with the boys 
from Essex County. 

There is no disguising the fact, I am aw- 
fully homesick and do not grow any less so. 

Love to baby and heaps for yourself. 

1 Frank Ravenel Frost, of Charleston, South Carolina. 
A classmate of Captain Gardner. 



TO HIS WIFE 

To His Wife 

July 3, 1898 

Dearest Constance : 
My chance in the 8th Massachusetts fell 
through owing to Jacque Peabody's accept- 
ance of the vacant captaincy. We are still 
here, and the Lord knows when we shall get 
away, certainly not for a week. Meanwhile 
other men are doing something. 

I send you a photograph with names writ- 
ten on back in another package. It is pretty 
good. I also enclose my first pay. Buy some- 
thing for yourself with it. Next month's pay 
will be devoted to little Constance, unless I 
am short of money. 

All the men are terribly disappointed 
about the delay in moving. 

By the way. Colonel Pew, of the 8th Mas- 
sachusetts, told me yesterday that he thought 
it would be a good thing if the Volunteer 
Aid 1 sent money instead of their next ship- 

^ Mrs. Gardner was working with the Massachusetts 
Volunteer Aid Association. 

C 15 ] 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
ment. Express charges are enormous and 
Chattanooga and the Commissary Depart- 
ment sell everything. The Commissary stuff 
is of the highest quality at government con- 
tract prices. 

Congressman Moody is here staying for a 
day or two with the 8th. 



To His Wife 

Hdqrs. \st D'lv. \st Corps 

Charleston^ S.C 
July 9, 1898 

Dearest Constance: 

I AM starting to write you this tonight as I 
think it possible that our transports may ar- 
rive tomorrow, in which case everything will 
be in a rush. 

I have not had a minute since I have come 
here and my bedroom now looks like a scene 
from "Secret Service," strewn with tele- 
grams and papers, saddles, ammunition, and 
three typewriters. I have, at all events, the 
satisfaction of feeling that I am playing a 



TO HIS WIFE 
distinct part in getting this expedition through. 
Although I have been nominally relieved as 
Division Adjutant, I am actually acting in 
that capacity. We expected our two brigades 
to go in the Harvard, Tale, and Columbia; 
but the 6th Massachusetts w^ent in the Tale 
and part of the 6th Illinois in the Columbia. 
The rest of the 6th Illinois goes tomorrow 
in the Rita which we have fitted up for the 
purpose in two days. She is one of the Span- 
ish prizes and I send you an egg-cup which 
Colonel Biddle,! of our Staff, found on board. 
He was chief engineer in charge of the work. 
We have only one brigade of our division 
here, viz., sd and 3d Wisconsin and 16th 
Pennsylvania. The second brigade (4th Ohio, 
4th Pennsylvania and 3d Illinois) will follow 
us and perhaps our third brigade (1st and 3d 
Kentucky and 5th Illinois). We shall sail on 
the transports Grande Duchesse and JVb. jo, 
when they arrive, probably tomorrow. The 

* Colonel (now Major-General) John Biddle, U.S.A., 
Engineers. 

n 17 ] 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
second brigade will go later on the Resolute 
and Harvard (probably). 

This is a beautiful old town and every one 
proffers hospitality which I have no time to 
accept. Frosty is at Macon, Georgia, a cap- 
tain in the Immunes. 

I think the heat is tremendously exagger- 
ated. There is a cool breeze here near the 
water, and even at Camp Thomas the heat 
never approached the unbearable stage. The 
thermometer, of course, is high, and I am at 
this moment, though I have nothing on, wring- 
ing with perspiration; but it is not oppressive. 

I do not know what I shall look like when 
I get back from Cuba; but I assure you I 
am almost gaunt now. I sent you a photo- 
graph of almost the whole Staff, where I look 
comparatively thin ; but it is nothing to what 
I am now. 

I felt very badly on hearing that Morton 
Henry 1 had been wounded. I hope it was not 

* Captain (now Colonel) Morton J. Henry, volunteer 
in the war with Spain and now in the Regular Army. 

I 18 2 



TO HON. H. C. LODGE 
severe; but it is better to be wounded than 
not to get into the scrap. We are scared to 
death that Santiago will fall before we get 
there. If it does we hope to go at once to 
Porto Rico and then organize the 6th Corps 
for a move against Havana. 

To Hon. H. C. Lodge 

Charleston^ S.C 
July 12, 1898 

Dear Mr. Lodge : 

Our transports are just in and I suppose we 
shall soon be off, with our equipment in a 
very unsatisfactory state. It seems a great 
pity, in view of the necessity which certainly 
exists according to the Regular officers who 
are just back from Santiago for steam launches, 
that we cannot be allowed to have them on 
the say-so of General Ludington. i Of course, 
you understand that there is no way for 
General Wilson to approach the Secretary 

* Brigadier-General M. I. Ludington, Quartermaster- 
General. Retired as Major-General. 

1 19:] 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 

of War or the President officially. Pack-mule 
transportation is ridiculously inadequate, and 
altogether I feel that, although we are 
equipped as well as some other troops, 
nevertheless our equipment is not a proper 
one and I doubt if it is ever made so. 

Judging by the situation, as it is depicted 
to us by officers returning here, I should 
think it very unlikely that Santiago would fall 
before we get there, which leaves one crumb 
of comfort in an otherwise not very satisfac- 
tory prospect. The 8th Massachusetts, w^hich 
is still at Camp Thomas, is in surprisingly 
good shape, considering the fact that up to 
recently they have been in a division com- 
manded by incapable volunteer officers. I 
think that Colonel Pew and Lieutenant- 
Colonel Bailey deserve the greatest credit for 
saving the situation. 

With best love to the family, I am 
Very sincerely yours 

A. P. Gardner 

C 20] 



TO HIS WIFE 
P.S. Since writing the above one of the 
transports has again put to sea under orders 
from the Navy Department. 

To His Wife 

Charleston^ S.C. 
July 15, 1898 

Every one here is frightfully dispirited at 
the sudden change in orders. You can't find 
a man who cares a damn whether there is 
yellow fever in Santiago or not, or who ex- 
perienced any pleasure at the news of surren- 
der. It certainly is pretty tough after the tre- 
mendous efforts we have made in preparation. 

It is now thought that we shall form a part 
of a Porto Rico expedition ; but every one 
feels that it will fall through some way or 
other. We may be ordered in five minutes 
to go to Newport News or Fernandina or 
back again to Camp Thomas. 

I have had very little to do since the order 
to stop the movement came ; but up to that 
time the work was tremendous. 

I 21 n 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
Our things are still on board the transport 
awaiting orders; but none seem to be in a 
hurry to come. Our command has gathered 
a lot of barnacles here, stray officers, small 
detachments of engineers, signalmen, etc. ; 
drunks left over from troops that have gone 
away, men left in charge of horses, Cuban 
representatives, and every sort and condition 
of military concomitants. 

They had a dance here last night (fancy 
a dance in this latitude on July 14 ! ) in which 
the Commanding General and some mem- 
bers of his Staff tripped the light fantastic. 



To His Wife 

On Board U.S. Transport., No. 30 

At Sea. July 24, 1898 
Sunday 

Dearest Constance : 

We left Charleston on the evening of the 
20th (Wednesday); but did not get outside 
the bar till morning. The heat was some- 
thing terrific that night ; but the voyage has 

1 22 n 



TO HIS WIFE 
been cool and smooth since then. This is 
extremely fortunate, as we are 1500 men 
packed like sardines, and if there were a 
storm most of us would have to be below 
decks with no ventilation to speak of. 

At night the decks are so covered with 
sleeping men that it is almost impossible to 
move around. I have slept either on the deck 
itself or in a hammock on deck every night, 
though some of the officers have braved the 
terrors of the bunks below. 

The work of preparation in Charleston was 
tremendous ; but we are now having a de- 
lightful loaf. 

The Grande Duchesse with the 2d Wiscon- 
sin on board is alongside and Transport J^o, 
31 with the 16th Pennsylvania is supposed 
to be a few hours behind with our wagons 
and mules. We have no convoy ; but the de- 
livery of this letter, which will probably go 
back on this transport, will prove our safe 
arrival. 

I am very well and all ready for service 

C 23 ] 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
of any kind. We do not know whether a 
landing has been effected nor whether the 
Navy is at Porto Rico to protect our landing; 
but we suppose it to be so. 

The 3d Wisconsin is on this ship and the 
men are in good shape ; though I am sorry to 
say that typhoid fever has raised the deuce 
with the 2d Wisconsin. 



To His Wife 

Hdqrs. 1st Dh. 1st Corps 
Ponce^ Porto Rico 
Sunday, Jidy 31, 1898 

My dearest Constance: 
I AM looking forward to the time when I can 
describe to you verbally the perfect ludicrous- 
ness of this situation. 

We landed loaded to the muzzle and with 
our teeth set expecting to fight our way up 
here. Instead of which the inhabitants re. 
ceived us with open arms and tremendous 
enthusiasm, and the first night I slept or 
dreamt I slept for a little while in marble 
C 24 ] 



TO HIS WIFE 
halls. The fact was that I did sleep on a tes- 
sellated pavement, but as I had nothing under 
me it came hard. 

The only time I have even had my hand 
on my revolver v^as two nights ago when I 
went down with another officer and two sol- 
diers with an engine and an open car to Yauco. 
The line had just been reopened by the engi- 
neers and ran through what was supposed to 
be the enemy's country ; but devil an enemy 
did we see, although we stopped several 
times. 

We have pushed our outposts about eight 
miles towards San Juan, and meanwhile spend 
our time trying to restore some semblance 
of method in this city and in paroling the 
Porto Rican Volunteer Army. O Lord ! I 
wish you could see them. Boscabello i is n't 
in it with this place. 

We are overcharged for everything, and 
American money is n't worth anywhere near 

^ " Boscabello " was a comic opera, popular at that 
time. 

L 25 H 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
its real value in Porto Rican money ; but we 
hope this will be better soon. 

The country is beautiful, real cocoanuts 
and bananas growing on real palms. I have 
lost all sense of identity, and feel precisely as 
if I were on the stage. The houses, populace, 
soldiers, everything is absurd. I am going to 
send home a sword which was surrendered 
to me, as soon as I get a chance. Of course 
it belongs to the Government and I am le- 
gally bound to turn it in ; but never a law of 
God or man counts in this city outside of 
military law. 

I hope we shall get ahead soon, and I sup- 
pose we shall as soon as provisions and troops 
are landed ; but I am beginning to think there 
is no fight in the Spanish. 

I have not seen Bayi since the day we 
landed ; but I suppose the Dixie will be back 
soon, as she only went as far as St. Thomas. 

The regiments here are 6th Illinois, 6th 

^ His brother-in-law, George Cabot Lodge, an ensign 
on the Dixie. 

I 26] 



TO HIS WIFE 
Massachusetts, 3d Wisconsin, 2d Wisconsin, 
16th Pennsylvania; but three more trans- 
ports got in this evening. 

I suppose you got a joint letter from Bay 
and me. He is as well as possible and just 
the same. They have been lucky enough to 
have several scraps; but the Navy's fun, I 
guess, is a good deal over. Uncle Harry 1 
promised to wire you from St. Thomas that 
I was all right. 

Of course, everything has gone astray ; but 
I expect that an occasional letter from you is 
likely to ti'ickle through somehow^ 

To His Wife 

Hdqrs. \st Div. 1st Corps 
Police^ P.R.J August 2, 1898 

Dearest Constance: 
We have now 7000 men here at Ponce, and 
I very much doubt if 1000 are necessary. The 
Spanish troops cannot be more than 4000, 

^ Rear Admiral Charles Henry Davis, U.S.N., in com- 
mand of the Dixie. 

i 27 D 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
and they are said to be at Aibonito, about 
thirty miles from here. 

I do not know whether we shall move on 
them soon or not, as the unloading is very slow, 
owing to the fact that there are no tugs and only 
a few steam launches belonging to the Navy. 

The rumors of peace are thick, and every 
one is more disgusted than ever. I am not 
bloodthirsty ; but I should like to see a little 
real fighting after all the farce. 

I slung my hammock in a rose garden 
under a trellis and tried that method the other 
night, but the mosquitoes drove me in. Most 
of the Staff live in a fine house with the gar- 
den I speak of behind. We have real china 
and glass, a good table managed by the New 
York Sun war correspondent, and Mr. Abra- 
ham Bryan Sweetwine, a colored gentleman 
that we picked up somehow in Charleston, 
South Carolina, to wait on table in a white 
jacket and apron. I suppose when we get 
onto hardtack and bacon, in the field, we 
shall miss all this ! 

I 28 3 



Augustus Peabody Gardner 

Captain and Assistant Adjutant-General in the Spanish War 



1 



TO HIS WIFE 

I only wish I could picture the scene here 
at Headquarters in the Commandant's house. 
Typewriters, telephone, telegraph all going 
at once ; guards, orderlies, officers, dagoes, 
spies, interpreters, damfools, newspaper men, 
all jabbering. Papers, telegrams, and orders 
flying in all directions. False reports of en- 
gagements, sacking, pillage, etc., coming in 
on the wire. Everything going with a whoop 
amid cursing and swearing and injustice and 
confusion. I can hear now in the next room 
two officers each trying to drown the other's 
voice in dictating to stenographers. 

I send you the initial copy of the J^ew Era, 
The officer who landed and stated his terms 
was your Uncle Harry, i 

To His Wife 

August Af^ 1898 

Dearest Constance : 

We expect to move this afternoon, so I drop 

you a hurried line. The Colonel and Lieu- 

^ Rear Admiral Davis. 
C 29 ] 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
tenant-Colonel and two other officers of the 
Sixth Massachusetts (now in this command) 
have resigned. The regiment is in pretty bad 
shape, and General Wilson wants to put me 
in as Colonel, and has telegraphed Governor 
Wolcott to that effect. 

If I get it, which I don't expect, it will be 
a stupendous job to undertake to set the regi- 
ment on its feet. 

Cablegram to His Wife after the Battle of 

COAMO 

August 10, 1898 

From Ponce to Gardner, Wenham, Mass. 
Never touched me 

Gardner 

To His Wife 

Coamo^ P.R. 
August 9, 1 898 

My dearest Constance: 
I HAVE been under fire in a fight this morn- 
ing just outside of this town, and as far as I 

[ so 3 



TO HIS WIFE 
can see I did all right. I believe the General 
has mentioned me in his dispatches. 

Colonel Biddle and I left camp with the 
i6th Pennsylvania yesterday evening and 
started into the mountains, where we camped. 
At 12.30 A.M. Biddle and I left camp with 
the pioneer train and cleared the road for the 
troops. We had a very hard march, but man- 
aged to head off the Spaniards and captured 
180, killing six or seven including the Com- 
mandant of Ponce. He exposed himself ter- 
ribly. I had a shot at him myself with a 
Krag-Jorgenson which I borrowed. It was 
the only shot I fired and, thank Heaven, 
I missed. 

It is almost impossible to realize that it is 
you they are firing at. You feel like saying, 
"You damn fools, don't point your con- 
founded guns this way." 

I sent you a cablegram this afternoon in 
case you should hear a garbled account of 
the fight, merely saying I was O.K. 

Our next point is Aibonito, where we shall 

c 31 1 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
have a fight, and then the road is clear to 
San Juan in all probability. 

I was in the saddle fourteen hours steadily, 
except when I was leading my horse, and 
part of the time during the fight. I should 
say the fight lasted about three quarters of 
an hour and that about 3000 or more shots 
were fired. 

A Japanese warrior is about to return to 
Ponce, so I must close this letter to send it 
by him. 

I had yours and baby's photo in my pocket 
during the fight. 

To His Wife 

Coamo^ P.R.y Hdqrs. 1st Div. 1st Corps 

August 14, 1898 

Dearest Constance : 
I SUPPOSE that the war is over and I shall 
try my best to get home soon ; but I think 
I shall probably need your father's help in 
getting my resignation accepted. Of course, 
I cannot resign without General Wilson's 

c 32 ] 



TO HIS WIFE 
consent, as it would not be decent to leave 
him in the lurch. 

I do not know whether his dispatch com- 
mending me for gallantry in the fight at 
Coamo ever got through; but I shall ab- 
stract the duplicate from the Adjutant's rec- 
ords here and bring it home with me, as I do 
not care to trust it to the mail. 

I had not been in ten minutes from a dan- 
gerous reconnaissance when the news came 
that the protocol had been signed. I had been 
out in command of about thirty cavalrymen 
and signalmen for thirty hours in the moun- 
tains trying to find a road by which to attack 
Aibonito from the rear. 

It was a very unpleasant trip, as we were 
fired on from the trenches before we had 
been out two hours, and from that time on 
we were in danger of ambush, as our presence 
was known. Moreover, we had to drag our 
horses up the mountains and camp in the rain 
on the side of a hill without a fire to make 
coffee and not a stitch of canvas in the outfit. 

C 33 3 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 

The saddest thing I have seen was a com- 
pany of the 3d Wisconsin marching in the 
funeral train of two of their number who 
were killed, probably after the protocol was 
signed. It seemed so unnecessary, and the 
Dead March from Saul which the band 
played was harrowing. 

I can't help being glad the war is over. 
Any man who has been under a hot fire and 
says he was not afraid is either a fool or a 
liar. There is no cowardice in being afraid. 
The question is whether a man does his duty 
in spite of his fear. 

I think I should have been used a good 
deal for reconnaissance if the war had lasted, 
and that would have very likely meant being 
bagged to a certainty. 

To His Wife 

Ponce, P.P., August 22, 1898 

Dearest Constance : 

Soon after the truce was announced, General 

Wilson sent me off on a tour of the country 

[ 34 ] 



TO HIS WIFE 

to investigate the school and taxation system. 
I went as far as the city of Mayaguez. The 
country where there are no soldiers is in a 
pretty disorganized state, guerrillas both with 
Spanish and Porto Rican sympathies abound- 
ing. I had no trouble, however, except in 
arresting a deserter from the nth Regular 
Infantry. I got him back to Ponce all right, 
however. Who should turn up last night but 
Bob Wallach i as a Lieutenant of Artillery and 
Walter Abbott 2 as a Lieutenant of Engineers. 
I am going to broach the subject of resig- 
nation to General Wilson this evening. He 
has just returned to Ponce and is to be in 
command on the Island for the present. I 
have my fears that he won't let me go just 
yet, however, as I guess he finds me usefuL 
Two of the Staff leave for Washington to- 
night under orders ; but one of them is com- 
ing back. It makes me feel awful homesick. 

^ Robert Wallach, now Major of Cavalry, U.S.A. 
(1918). 

^ Walter Abbott, of Boston, since dead. 

: 35 2 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
I perfectly hate it here now that the war is 
over; but I shan't go back on the old man after 
the way he has treated me. The weather is 
oppressive, and it is a distinct effort to attend 
to one's duties, especially sedentary ones. 

General Miles leaves tonight. I wish to 
Heaven I was Commander-in-Chief, skim- 
ming off the cream from everything ! 

I have not yet begun to let my belt out 
again; but I suppose I can scarcely hope to 
stay as thin as I am now till you see me 
again. Breeches that were a snug fit at 
Charleston are an inch or more too large 
around the waist now, and my face has 
promontories that I never suspected. 

To His Wife 

Camp near Ponce^ P.R. 
August 28, 1898 

Dearest Constance: 
We are ordered home ! Heaven be praised ! 
We expect to sail on the Concho in about 
a week; but are probably going on board 

C36 3 



TO HIS WIFE 
tomorrow, as about half the Staff is sick. I 
myself have not been very well on account 
of malaria and there are a great many sol- 
diers very ill. 

It ought to take us about a week to reach 
New York, and then we shall go into camp 
near Brooklyn, probably, for a few days, after 
which I shall probably either be mustered 
out or shall get leave of absence and go 
home with the papers of this division to 
straighten them out preparatory to turning 
them over to the War Department. 

I just got back yesterday from a trip with 
a small detachment of soldiers to Sabana 
Grande where I was sent on the unpleasant 
duty of deposing one alcalde and setting up 
another. I called a meeting of the council 
and gave them fits through the interpreter. 

Evidently General Miles suppressed the 
account of the fight at Coamo. It was the 
only strategic performance of the Porto Ri- 
can campaign. I suppose the official report 
will be suppressed also. 

C 37 ] 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 

I believe that in barracks the men's health 
would be fairly good; but in camp with 
everything drenched every few hours it is 
pretty tough. 

As I sit here I can look out of my tent 
and see the most beautiful scenery in the 
world. Green hills with a thunderstorm brew- 
ing behind them. In front a green level 
meadow with occasional trees and the horses 
of a cavalry troop grazing knee-deep in 
grass. A few tents here and there, a few 
cattle, and two army wagons with large 
white canvas covers. 

If all goes well I shall reach you soon 
after this letter does, and I hope I shall not 
have changed so much that you will not 
know me. At present my fine figure is 
much reduced in its proportions. 



II 

CONGRESS AND POLITICS 

To His Wife 

Hamilton., Mass. 
Apiil &, 1902^ 

I ENCLOSE you some clippings from today's 
Herald. I am sorry that the brevets should 
come just now. It looks like politics. 

I am going to speak before a French club in 
Haverhill and want you to write me a speech 
of about 2500 words, if you care to do so. 

It should be non-political ; but there should 
be plenty of La Salle, Frontenac, Pere Mar- 
quette, etc., down to Sir W. Laurier. Min- 
gling of the two streams, sturdy habitants 
clasp hands with sturdy Puritan and Celt, etc. 
Give them plenty of history, Indians, torture, 
Jesuits, gore, etc. They like it strong. 

1 think the Gardner tide is beginning to 

^ This was the opening of Major Gardner's first cam- 
paign for Congress. 

2 His brevet as Major for services in the war with Spain. 

C 39 ] 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
rise by hard work. I certainly have not spared 
myself. 

To His Wife 
Washington, December 10, 1903 

Yesterday I went for a three hours' walk 
or rather climb with the President i and Lieu- 
tenant Fortescue. It is simply extraordinary 
that a man of the President's weight and age 
can climb around the face of cliffs the way he 
does. Two secret service men started to follow 
fiim; but he sent them back. Fortescue was 
armed ; but I was not. I think that I shall fol- 
low the advice of the secret service men and 
carry a revolver the next time. 

I play Bridge nearly every night ; but to- 
night I am to be received into some sort of 
organization of Spanish War Veterans, and 
tomorrow evening I am to call on Colonel 
Shatswell of Ipswich ( formerly Master of the 
Masonic Lodge there ) to get some instructions 
for my next degree. 

^ President Theodore Roosevelt. 

[ 40 ] 



TO HIS DAUGHTER 

To His Daughter 

December 12y 1903 

My Dear Big Took : i 
What a goose your Pip 2 was to go away to 
Congress and leave you and Mother and the 
horses and the ponies and Vixen-Dog and all 
the nice things at home. 

Oh, how pleased I was to get your letter 
and to know that you were having a good 
time. But, Took, you don't know how to make 
a kiss in a letter. You make it like this : O ; 
but it should be like this : X. I will show you 
at the end of the letter. 

Old Pip plays squash, and rides with 
Grandpa and walks with the President and 
that is all the fun that old Pip has. The rest 
of the time he runs errands for his constitu- 
ents. This is a long word, and it means all 
the people who tell Pip how much they helped 
him to get elected. 

^ His pet name for his daughter Constance, at this time 
nine years old. 

^ His daughter's name for him. 

C41 •} 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 

Pip made a speech today in Congress ; but 
no one listened. After he got through all the 
people who had been asleep or out of the hall 
shook hands with Pip and told him how much 
they enjoyed it. 

Give my love to Jack and George and Peggy 
from Paris and all the rest of your children. 
Your devoted Popper 

XXXXXXXX Kisses. 

To Hon. Henry Cabot Lodge 

Hamilton^ Mass.., Oct. 6, 1908 

Dear Mr. Lodge: 

I ENCLOSE you herewith a copy of my speech 
at the Convention on Saturday, as I am very 
anxious to have you criticise it. 

In spite of your complimentary remarks 
after I had finished, I was perfectly conscious 
during two thirds of the time I was speaking 
that I did not succeed in arousing my audience 
at all, and only to a degree did it seem to me 
that I was successful in arresting their atten- 
tion. With the effect of the last part of the 

C 42 ] 



TO HON. HENRY CABOT LODGE 
speech I was better satisfied ; but not entirely 
so. The applause was spontaneous enough 
when I mentioned the names of the various 
popular figures ; but I could not seem to work 
my audience up to the pitch of applauding 
unreasoningly. 

All this is somewhat discouraging to one 
who has been on the stump so long as I have, 
and I have made up my mind that I must find 
out just what is wrong, either in construction 
or delivery, before I can hope to accomplish 
satisfactory results. That oratory can be re- 
duced to certain fixed rules is perhaps impos- 
sible, but there must be general propositions 
which experts like yourself can lay down. 

I do not believe that my speech lacked 
material or ideas, although of course I may 
be flattering myself in that regard. Never- 
theless, I am quite sure that I have seen au- 
diences aroused by speeches which contained 
fewer adroit expressions. 

It seems to me that the trouble must lie in 
the construction of the speech or in its de- 
ll 43 ] 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
livery: probably in both. Constance, for in- 
stance, thinks that I speak too slowly and that 
my vibrating gesture with my upraised right 
hand is a great mistake. She thinks that a con- 
versational tone maintained throughout my 
entire argument with regard to the rules of 
the House, the Tariff, and Labor would have 
been much more effective. 

Another criticism which Constance offers 
is that my speech lacked continuity and that 
I jumped from one subject to another without 
interposing any definite steps to break the 
transition. 

I should appreciate it very much, indeed, 
if you would read the speech carefully and tell 
me exactly what you yourself would have 
done had you been in my place and had you 
been invited to construct your address on the 
exact materials which I used in the construc- 
tion of mine. 

Sincerely yours 

A. P. Gardner 

Hon. H. C. Lodge 
Nahanty Mass. 

[ 44 ] 



FROM HON. H. C. LODGE 

From Hon. H. C. Lodge to A. P. Gardner 

Nahant, Mass. 
October 8, 1908 

Dear Gus: 

I HAVE your letter of the 6th. I read the draft 
of your speech and I listened to every word 
of it. Now I have read it again with great 
care. There was no one in that audience ex- 
cept Constance who was as anxious for your 
success as I, and I was, therefore, extremely 
sensitive to any shortcomings. What I said 
to you when you finished was not complimen- 
tary, but my actual impression, and I have 
seen no reason to change it. All that I heard 
and, what is more important, overheard, con- 
firmed my own opinion. The general opinion 
was and is that your speech was very success- 
ful, and about the manner in which you pre- 
sided and handled a difficulty which does not 
usually arise in our State Conventions, there 
are not and cannot be two opinions. You were 
a first-rate presiding officer and everybody 
recognized it. I think you expected too much. 

C 45 ] 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
Your careful argument about Labor and the 
Tariff was not calculated to bring outbursts 
of applause, and would not have done so in 
anybody's hands; but the Convention liked it 
and was impressed by it, and it was the sort 
of serious argument that ought to be made to 
a convention. I do not think anything could 
have been better done than the way in which 
you brought out Roosevelt and Taft, and 
speaking out of a pretty large experience I do 
not see how you could have received more 
hearty applause than those passages received. 
It is little to say that your speech roused the 
Convention far more than the average speech 
of presiding officers at our conventions; but 
you ask me to criticise the speech and de- 
livery and make any suggestions that occur 
to me. 

Since reading the speech again and giving it 
the most careful thought, I see one or two 
places that I did not notice when I read the 
draft, or when you delivered it, which would 
be improved by a sentence or two to smooth 

C 46 ] 



FROM HON. H. C. LODGE 
the transition from one subject to another and 
so lead your hearers to the new subject more 
easily and less abruptly than is now the case. 
As for the speech itself I see no other sugges- 
tion to make. 

Now as to the delivery. It struck me that in 
transacting the business of the Convention you 
pitched your voice a little too high. The high 
pitch and not the loud shout is the secret of 
making people hear ; but you tended to make 
it too high with the consequent risk of break- 
ing your voice. You also put the motions and 
votes a little too rapidly. A slight pause in ask- 
ing for the ayes and noes and before announc- 
ing the result makes the process more effective 
and business-like. You can hardly employ the 
conversational tone too much, as I remember 
hearing Wendell Phillips say when I was a 
young man ; but you must preserve the high 
pitch even then to make yourself heard. I 
think a larger use of the conversational tone 
would have improved the delivery of your 
speech and made the early parts more effec- 

1147 3 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
tive. I have no faith in the hot-air business. 
Everybody indulges in a certain amount of it, 
and in an ordinary stump speech it is allow- 
able ; but in a Convention speech it is out of 
place and the audience does not really like it, 
especially from the public men who represent 
them. You have every reason to be greatly 
pleased with your success on Saturday. I have 
a strong impression that it was a much better 
speech and much more enthusiastically re- 
ceived than the one I delivered in '91 when I 
was about your age and which at the time 
seemed very successful. 

Always yours 

H. C. Lodge 



To His Daughter 

Washington^ D.C. 

July 22, 1909 

Dearest of Tooks : 

Thank you ever so much for your letter. It 
was very well expressed, interesting and 
neatly written." How you have improved ! 

[ 48 ] 



TO PROFESSOR HUGO MUNSTERBERG 

Since last I wrote to Mother I have at 
last, after several attempts, seen the Wrights 
fly in their flying machine. Yesterday I went 
out to Fort Myer with Mr. George Howard 
and there I examined the machine carefully, 
drew a long face, asked questions in a solemn 
tone of voice, and pretended I understood the 
answers. 

Orville Wright worked the bird. Occasion- 
ally it would pass directly overhead and I 
could see that he wore white socks. The most 
wonderful part is to see how skillfully he 
brings it down so as not to break it. 

I note what you say about Arctic weather 
in Hamilton. It has been cool in spots here, 
but I have not needed my fur tippet or muff. 

To Professor Hugo Munsterberg 

Hamilton^ Massachusetts 

October 15, 1909 

My Dear Professor Munsterberg : 
You, I hope, will excuse a Harvard graduate 
personally unknown to you for expressing 

[ 49 ] 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
certain comments on your article entitled 
"The Standing of Scholarship in America." 

It may be, as you say, that a philosophical 
revolution in the United States must precede 
a restoration of scholarship to its proper stand- 
ing, or rather to that which you and I believe 
to be its proper standing. If so. Harvard her- 
self should lose no time in reversing her course 
and shouldering the loss inevitable to the pio- 
neer who blazes a new track opposed in direc- 
tion to the spirit of the age. 

You will observe in the preceding sentence 
that I use the word "restoration," as I am 
quite old enough to remember that in my boy- 
hood the American scholar ( who, by the way, 
was the pedagogue then as now) held a much 
higher relative place in public esteem. That 
we were less than now a positivist people 
thirty years ago, I think extremely doubtful. 
Perhaps, however, our positivism held no such 
universal sway in those days of incomplete 
democracy. 

However, my object in writing to you is 

t 50 ] 



TO PROFESSOR HUGO MUNSTERBERG 
not to philosophize, but rather to present my 
own experience as an illustration of that which 
I believe to be a practical result of an unlim- 
ited Elective System. 

Well on in life my reverence for scholar- 
ship has been acquired by close family associ- 
ation with scholars. Harvard College forbade 
me such reverence as I should naturally have 
felt. At Harvard, after my Freshman year, I 
was taught to select my courses, not with a 
view to becoming a cultivated gentleman, but 
rather for their future utility or else for the 
purpose of securing a Bachelor's degree by a 
minimum of effort. Perhaps it is not fair to 
say that I was taught to exercise my choice 
from any such point of view. Perhaps, al- 
though I have forgotten it, the advice given 
me may have been exactly opposite. Does 
mere advice prevent the generality of man- 
kind from following the line of least resist- 
ance, if inviting opportunity is simultaneously 
presented ? 

At all events, inasmuch as my intentions 

C 51 1 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
were generally better than my performances, 
I resisted the temptation of easy courses, se- 
lecting for the most part History and Political 
Economy as subjects to be studied with a mor- 
tifying lack of diligence. At the time I had a 
vague intention of fitting myself for the politi- 
cal life which, after a long interval, I ultimately 
adopted. 

In a sense, then, the Elective System was 
useful to me, but is my case typical ? How 
many boys of eighteen accurately predict their 
future occupation ? 

But let us see what I lost by the Elective 
System. Notably, I failed to get the founda- 
tion of a liberal education. Attaining no trace 
of scholarship myself, by no possibility could 
I learn to value justly those who had attained 
scholarship in a high degree. My conception 
of a great scholar of necessity pictured the man 
w^ho could impart to me the greatest amount 
of useful knowledge. The fact that I did not 
have the industry to take all that was offered 
me in no way altered my conception. 

C 52 ] 



TO PROFESSOR HUGO MUNSTERBERG 

If Harvard had started me on the right 
road, I might today be a fair scholar. I cer- 
tainly should be more understandingly appre- 
ciative of scholarship. Even now, at times I 
find difficulty in regarding it as more than a 
mere elegance. 

My father-in-law. Senator Lodge, was edu- 
cated at Harvard under a prescribed system. 
Today, he is a scholar. He reads to improve 
and exercise his mind and to develop his 
scholarship. I, on the other hand, read either 
for diversion or to attain a definite result. I 
read Gibbon or Grote not for cultivation, but 
solely to learn from history the art of gov- 
ernment. I read Shakespeare's plays not for 
the pleasure they give me, but because I 
know that Abraham Lincoln found them of 
immense assistance in extending his vocabu- 
lary and developing his power of expression. 

The difference of mental equipment be- 
tween my father-in-law and me may account 
for much of the difference between our men- 
tal attributes today, but I am convinced that 

I 53 2 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
the Elective System at Harvard is in part 
responsible. Lodge was a tw\g bent in a 
scholarly direction. I was a twig bent in the 
direction of utility. He spontaneously respects 
and appreciates the scholar. I do so only as 
the result of mental compulsion. 

If I am a fair example of the man whose 
education does not end at the desk of a count- 
ing-house, at once there appears at least one 
weighty cause for the retrogression of Amer- 
ican scholarship in the esteem of the bacca- 
laureate public. By what miracle may the 
Bachelor learn reverence for that of which he 
is scarcely taught the existence ? 

While I am perfectly well aware of the 
objections to a rigid curriculum, I believe it 
to attain better results than our present un- 
limited Elective System with its utilitarian 
aims. Of course, that system is only one of 
the manifestations of our idolatry of purely 
practical knowledge or, as Chapman might 
perhaps express it, knowledge administered 
in selected capsules. 

c; 54 : 



TO PROFESSOR HUGO MUNSTERBERG 
State-supported universities cannot be pio- 
neers in stemming the utilitarian tide, for the 
citizens would not permit it. The newer univer- 
sities will not slacken in their race for numerical 
superiority, because they have no traditions 
nor history to fall back upon as compensation 
in the public eye for their tarnished totals. 

Why should Harvard make the sacrifice, 
even if it were proved that sacrifice should 
be made? Perchance because sacrifice is no 
stranger to the Harvard ideal. Perchance be- 
cause Harvard can lead where others can but 
follow. We graduates believe that the most 
honorable position in a pilgrimage is held by 
the leading chariot, regardless of the number 
of its occupants. Many of us are sure that 
this country, even in these days of material- 
ism, presents a broad field for a seat of learn- 
ing based on quite another doctrine. To me, 
whose every day is devoted to materialistic 
considerations often of the least attractive 
kind, the hope that Harvard will lead in a 
new direction is especially enticing. 

L 55 ] 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
If such a movement shall be begun, the 
opposition of our own graduates will be 
strong, perhaps insurmountable, for men are 
but too prone to measure the eminence of a 
college by the bulk of its catalogue. 
Very truly j^ours 

A. P. Gardner 

To E. E. Gaylord, Esc^. 
Personal and Confidential. January 11, 1910 

My Dear Mr. Gaylord: 
I am in receipt of your two letters of Jan- 
uary 7 and 8. Things have moved a little 
faster than I expected, largely for the reason 
that the Speaker's friends continued their at- 
tack on the Insurgents. I have abandoned all 
hope of a policy of holding the door open so 
that Mr. Cannon could withdraw gracefully. 
It is absolutely impossible now that the fight 
is on again. 

My absence at the time the vote was 
taken the other day was owing to the fact 
that the Norris Amendment was not con- 
C 56 •} 



TO E. E. GAYLORD, ESQ. 
templated beforehand. Otherwise, I should 
have been notified and should have come to 
the Capitol, although I had not been out of 
the house for several days owing to my 
lumbago. 

As a matter of fact, I told Norris some 
time ago that he could depend upon me to 
support him by my vote in matters of the 
Rules at any time he notified me, although, 
for reasons which he fully understood, I per- 
sonally would prefer a truce for the present. 
Norris tells me that he would have notified 
me in time for the vote had it not been that 
he supposed that I was out of the city. 

Now with regard to matters pertaining to 
President Taft : I see from your letters that 
you are inclined to suspend judgment and 
are awaiting developments. 

( 1 ) With regard to the question of with- 
holding patronage from Insurgents because 
they are opposing Cannon: Personally, I 
very much doubt the fact for various rea- 
sons. The first Congressman who came out 

Z 57 2 



\ 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 

with this accusation was Congressman Miller 
of Minnesota. Miller defeated Congressman 
Bede for renomination in a campaign whose 
principal feature was Miller's claim that 
Bede was a hide-bound Cannon man. Just be- 
fore the new Congress opened in March 
last, Miller arrived in Washington, and if I 
recollect rightly, attended one meeting of 
the Insurgents and then withdrew. He voted 
with the Speaker's friends on every vote 
at the organization of Congress. Now, as 
a matter of fact, Bede was by no means a 
hide-bound Cannon man, and it is only nat- 
ural that he should oppose Miller for re- 
nomination this summer. About ten days 
ago Bede came out with a statement calling 
attention to Miller's inconsistency, and I am 
of the opinion that Miller's claim as to pat- 
ronage is his method of replying. Obviously, 
Mr. Taft is not punishing Miller because he 
opposed the Cannon regime, inasmuch as 
Miller supported the Cannon regime. Now 
I will tell you some additional facts which 

L 58 ] 



TO E. E. GAYLORD, ESQ. 
are not for publication. We had a meeting 
of the Insurgents last night at which twenty 
men were present. A show of hands was 
called for to find out which Insurgents had 
had trouble with their patronage. Four hands 
went up, to wit: — Cary, Lenroot,i Norris,^ 
and Miller. Lenroot had had trouble about a 
census supervisor; Norris had had trouble 
about a postmaster; and neither Cary nor 
Miller specified anything. Now I have the 
very highest confidence in Norris, and I am 
convinced that he thinks that his insurgency 
is the cause of his trouble. Personally, I sus- 
pect that one of his Senators has put a finger 
in the pie, which, after all, a Senator has a 
perfect right to do inasmuch as the Constitu- 
tion gives Senators a say in the appointment 
of ofiicials. There may also be some such 
explanation in the Lenroot case; in fact, 
from time to time all Congressmen have 
trouble with their recommendations. 

^ Now Senator from Wisconsin (1919) 
^ Now Senator from Nebraska (1919). 

C 59 2 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 

If there is any truth in the report about 
patronage, it is certainly a singular fact that 
Murdock, Hayes, and Davis, who are as active 
Insurgents as anybody, have had no trouble 
whatsoever. 

( 2 ) Now as to the Ballinger-Pinchot con- 
troversy: Let me first state my own views. 
Pinchot's family are very intimate with my 
family and my prejudice is entirely in favor 
of Pinchot. Further than that, my father-in- 
law and my wife have always been enthusi- 
astic admirers of the Ex-Chief Forester, and 
not over three weeks ago we three had a 
violent argument in which I was opposed by 
both my wife and father-in-law, when I ex- 
pressed a doubt as to Pinchot's good judgment. 

Now, if I had been in Pinchot's place and 
had believed as Pinchot did that beyond per- 
adventure of a doubt Ballinger was mixed up 
in rascality, I should have considered it my 
duty to expose it. (At least, I hope I should 
have had the courage to expose it. ) Up to that 
point I coincide with Pinchot. Now, Pinchot 

C 60 ] 



TO E. E. GAYLORD, ESQ. 
is a man of large property with no family to 
support, and, therefore, he had no one whom 
he was bound to consider before offering his 
resignation. It seems to me that if I had been 
in his place and had felt as he did, I should 
have offered my resignation, relieved myself 
of disloyalty to my Chief, and then made my 
accusations. 

I am quite sure that had Roosevelt been in 
Taft's place he would have done precisely 
what Taft did, except that he would not have 
called for a Cabinet meeting before taking 
action. 

Now, with regard to Ballinger : The Presi- 
dent was furnished with the Glavis charges 
and with Ballinger' s defense. His findings 
were in Ballinger' s favor. So far, so good. 
Until you and I hear both sides, we must not 
undertake to say whether or not we approve 
the President's conclusions. 

Mr. Hitchcock i of Nebraska in a speech in 
the House the other day stated the counts in 

^ Now Senior Senator from Nebraska (l919). 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 

his indictment of Ballinger. If the allegations 
which were made are proved to be true, it will 
be hard to escape the conclusion that Ballin- 
ger' s code of ethics is such as should preclude 
him from a seat in the Cabinet. I sincerely 
hope that Ballinger' s defense will be unassail- 
able; but I am trying to avoid prejudice un- 
til I hear the facts. 

I am perfectly satisfied that there will be 
a proper committee of investigation which will 
bring the facts before the public. I confess, 
however, that I dread the combat. On the one 
hand, there will be lawyers trying to assail 
Ballinger and Taft for the sake of political 
capital, and on the other hand other lawyers 
who will try to defend Ballinger by attack- 
ing Glavis. Out of all the mess and dirt, 
however, I feel confident that the facts will 
come out in such a shape that intelligent men 
can understand them. I probably shall not 
write you at length again for some time to 
come inasmuch as I am pretty busy. It is a 
delight to me, however, to write you letters 



TO HIS WIFE 

expressing my views for two reasons : — First, 
I know that you are courteous to read them 
carefully ; and secondly, because in the course 
of time I shall read my retained copies over 
and probably come to the conclusion that I 
have written a lot of nonsense ! 
Sincerely yours 

A. P. Gardner 

To His Wife 

Aiken, S.C., April 14, 1910 

You ask me whether I think that Socialism is 
an imminent danger. Socialistic legislation is 
not only an imminent danger ; but the whole 
world is passing it daily. In other words, the 
functions of government and government un- 
dertakings are rapidly being increased with 
an ever-increasing expenditure of money. 
This money ultimately must be taken ( from 
those who have money ) in the form of taxa- 
tion. When capital has been seriously im- 
paired by taxation, the process will be checked. 
Meanwhile, I believe that many people will 

I 63 ] 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
be ruined. It is no more sound for a nation to 
live on its capital than for an individual. So- 
cialism, as a complete system, will in my 
opinion never be attained for the reason that 
a cataclysm will intervene before it can be in- 
stalled. It makes no difference whether the 
purpose is to install it by degrees or suddenly. 
If by any chance a complete socialistic state 
could be installed by revolution, I doubt 
whether it would last any longer than the 
Ateliers Nationaux of 1848. 

Public schools are socialistic, a post-office 
department conducted at a loss is socialistic, 
a highway system is often socialistic. I think 
the future will add many more forms of social- 
ism until the last straw breaks the camel's 
back and then the world's pendulum will 
swing the other way. 

As nearly as I can do so I have answered 
your question about the imminence of social- 
ism. I realize, however, that I have not made 
myself very plain. 

1:643 



TO E. H. ABBOTT, ESQ. 

To E. H. Abbott, Esq., of The Outlook 

February 6, 1912 

My dear Mr. Abbott : 
On January lo, 1911, you wrote me asking 
certain questions about the attitude of the 
Democratic Party towards parliamentary lib- 
erty. At that time I wrote you a somewhat 
long letter in which I expressed my own 
assurance that there was no desire on the 
part of that party to take any backward step 
in regard to the Rules. I am now inclined to 
revise that opinion. Under another cover I am 
sending you a copy of the report of the pro- 
ceedings of the House on February 3, 1912. 
The step taken in amending Rule 27, Clause 4, 
seems to me to be a deliberate backward step. 
While I admit that there is some force in 
the position taken by Mr. Garrett 1 and Mr. 
Underwood, 2 that opportunities for motions to 

^ Hon. F. J. Garrett, Member of Congress from Ten- 
nessee. 

* Hon. Oscar Underwood, now Senator from Ala- 
bama (1919). 

C 65] 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
suspend the rules had been blocked, for all 
that I deny that the fact had as yet been dem- 
onstrated. At all events, the proposed change 
seems to me to be worse than the situation 
which Mr. Garrett and Mr. Underwood allege 
to exist. This proposed change should never 
have been put through under the operation of 
the previous question prohibiting amendment. 
To put the matter as concisely as I can, the 
facts are as follows : On June 17, 1 9 1 o, a Rule 
was adopted providing a Calendar on which 
members might register motions to discharge 
committees from further consideration of bills 
which had not been reported. This was known 
as the Discharge Calendar. Its purpose was to 
provide some means by which a Bill could be 
got out of Committee if that Committee hap- 
pened not to represent the will of the majority 
of the House. Up to that time the only way to 
discharge a committee was under the motion 
to suspend the rules, which could be made on 
the first and third Mondays in every month 
and at no other time. This motion to suspend 
[ 66 ] 



TO E. H. ABBOTT, ESQ. 
the rules required a two-thirds vote to carry it, 
but under the suspension rule it is optional with 
the Speaker whether or not he shall recognize 
the member who desires to make the motion. 
It is also true that the motion to suspend the 
rules is used for many other purposes beyond 
that of discharging committees, and to that 
extent there is force in Mr. Underwood's and 
Mr. Garrett's position. 

On the earliest day possible in the present 
Congress a very large number of motions to 
discharge were filed. Some of these motions 
were unquestionably filed by collusion in order 
to block the Calendar as much as possible. 
Others were filed by members who wished to 
display unusual activity in behalf of the meas- 
ure which they might favor. Others were filed 
as a precaution in case the Committee should 
prove recalcitrant. For instance, I myself filed 
a motion to discharge the Committee on Im- 
migration and Naturalization from the consid- 
eration of the Bill providing an educational test 
for immigrants. I had no desire whatever to 

1167 3 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
bring this motion up until it should become 
evident that the Committee on Immigra- 
tion and Naturalization intended deliberate 

delay. 

Under the rule as adopted June 17, 1910, 
on the first and third Mondays in each month 
motions to discharge Committees could be 
called up from the Discharge Calendar. It 
was also decided that these motions should 
have precedence over motions to suspend the 
rules. I am perfectly willing to admit that 
this Discharge Calendar has not been alto- 
gether successful; but in my opinion the 
blame rests very largely v^th the Democrats, 
who have invariably refused to permit a sec- 
ond to the motion to discharge. 

I am perfectly willing to admit that some 
device was necessary by which on very rare 
occasions the motion to suspend the rules 
should have precedence over the Discharge 
Calendar. If the previous question had not 
been ordered, I myself should have introduced 
an amendment taking away from the Speaker 
C 68 3 



TO E. H. ABBOTT, ESQ. 

the arbitrary right to refuse recognition on 
the motion to suspend. Various other amend- 
ments would have been offered without a 
doubt and we might have arrived at some 
inteUigent result. As the situation is now, 
we have squarely reverted in this partic- 
ular branch of the Rules to the position in 
which we found ourselves prior to June 17, 

1910. 

Of course, in many other respects the 
Rules are a very great improvement over the 
old Rules ; but in this particular matter there 
is a serious falling-off. Personally, I believe 
that the right of the House to discharge a 
Committee is of infinitely more importance 
than the question as to who ought to appoint 
the Committees. During the Insurgent move- 
ment for a change in the Rules I always 
voted in Insurgent meetings against taking 
from the Speaker the right to appoint Com- 
mittees. However, as a majority of those 
engaged in the movement overruled me, I 
always supported this change on the floor of 
[ 69 3 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
the House. It has always seemed to me that 
the two great essentials in which the Rules 
were wrong were these: 

First. That there was not time set apart 
for the consideration of Bills on the Calendar 
which were not '* privileged." This situation 
has been very well taken care of by *' Calen- 
dar Wednesday." 

Second. That there was no way to get 
on the Calendar any Bill of which the 
Committee having jurisdiction might disap- 
prove. 

I believe that the Discharge Calendar Rule 
with some amendments would have gone 
a long way towards remedying this defect. 
It would not have remedied it absolutely, 
because there is really no way in which 
you can make a majority of the House do 
something which they do not desire to do. 
Uncomfortable issues can be avoided by 
adjournment and by many other devices. 
Nevertheless, if the Rule were to be given 
a fair chance I am inclined to think that 

1 70 ] 



TO E. H. ABBOTT, ESQ.. 
it would become effective when a majority 
of the House at heart wishes to consider a 

Bill. 

In the debate on Saturday, Mr. Norris's 
statement of the situation is in my opinion abso- 
lutely correct. Mr. Lenroot's statement I do 
not entirely agree with. I am in especial doubt 
as to the soundness of the remedy which he 
suggests. 

To my mind there is nothing in Mr. Un- 
derwood's contention that 44 motions were 
filed on the earliest possible date. Take my 
own motion, for instance. I knew perfectly 
well that the Discharge Calendar would be 
crowded and that if I were to wait until later 
in the session before making my motion to 
discharge, I should run the risk of having that 
motion never reached during the life of the 
Congress. There is nothing in Mr. Under- 
wood's contention with regard to pension bills. 
If I recollect rightly, only a few of the dis- 
charge motions referred to pension legisla- 
tion. Mr. Underwood could have had these 

c 71 :i 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
motions removed by unanimous consent just 
as well as any one else. 

Today has been the first day for the opera- 
tion of the new Rule adopted on Saturday. 
There will not be another Suspension Day 
for two weeks. In my opinion the cat was 
let out of the bag today. The only motion to 
suspend the rules was made by Mr. Slayden 
of Texas for the purpose of passing the Anti- 
Third-Term Resolution. When the House 
refused consideration of this Resolution, ad- 
journment was immediately moved and carried 
on a strictly party vote. It seems to me clearly 
that the purpose for which the rules were 
changed on Saturday was in order to admit 
Mr. Slayden' s Resolution today. Of course, I 
do not mean that this was the only reason 
why the Democrats desired the change; but 
I think it is the reason why they desired it at 
this particular juncture instead of a little later. 
Very truly yours 

A. P. Gardner 

L 72 3 



TO HON. ROBERT M. WASHBURN 

To Hon. Robert M. Washburn 

Hamilton^ Mass. 

December 30, 1912 

My dear Mr. Washburn : 
I HAVE read in the columns of the daily press 
your questions as to my attitude on the Sen- 
atorial situation. 

You ask me whether I should advise Cur- 
tis Guild to accept an election to the United 
States Senate secured for him by a coalition 
between the Democratic legislators and a mi- 
nority of the Republican legislators. Yes, 
dear friend, yes. I should advise him to hold 
his pocket handkerchief before his streaming 
eyes, avert his gaze, and then extend a re- 
lentless grasp for the unhallowed thing. 

As a former affiliated member in dubious 
standing of the Inter-State Union of Steam 
Roller Engineers, I am going to take the lib- 
erty to explain to you just how a Senatorial 
caucus works. There are forty-six more 
Republicans than there are Democrats and 
Progressives combined in the incoming Mas- 

I 73 D 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
sachusetts Legislature, which is to elect a 
United States Senator. In other words, the 
Republicans have a majority of forty-six. If 
all, or most of these Republican legislators 
can be induced to meet together, that meet- 
ing will be what is known as a conference 
or a caucus. If in one way or another it can 
be made to appear that party loyalty requires 
each one of the gentlemen present at that 
meeting to abide by the will of the majority, 
there you have the caucus in its perfection. 
In other words, by this simple device a ma- 
jority of a majority can select a United States 
Senator. Every Republican who wishes to be 
considered " regular " will abide by the caucus 
decision. 

Moreover, as you know, many men have 
been elected to the next Legislature whose 
constituents are by no means enthusiastic 
about the dear old guard. Yet these very 
same men desire to stand well with the lead- 
ers. What more obvious step for them than 
to fall in with the plan for a caucus? In 

C 74 3 



TO HON. ROBERT M. WASHBURN 
the caucus they can earnestly support some 
liberal candidate and then, accepting defeat 
gracefully, yield to the will of the majority. 
Thus they will satisfy both sides. 

The fact is, Mr. Washburn, that the pro- 
posed caucus is a device for casting a repre- 
sentative's vote where his constituency does 
not wish it to go. To function properly this 
ingenious piece of mechanism requires the 
Representative's cooperation in the first in- 
stance, but no longer. In other words, the 
Representative must voluntarily permit him- 
self to be led into the caucus chamber. After 
he has once taken the veil of party regular- 
ity, he is no longer permitted to communi- 
cate with outsiders, and he soon discovers 
that only reprehensible and suspicious charac- 
ters ever emerge from a caucus which they 
have once entered. After all, I agree with 
that view. If I consent to attend one of these 
political seances, even conditionally, I feel 
somewhat bound not to throttle the medium 
just because the manifestations do not happen 

C 75 ] 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
to be to my taste. Senators and Representa- 
tives will be tolled into the coming gathering 
by some bellman chanting melodiously of 
a two-thirds rule to protect us all from a 
machine noniination. Stuff your ears with 
cotton wool. There is not going to be any 
two-thirds rule unless it looks like a runaway 
race for the Weeks and Draper stable. 

There is nothing inherently vicious about 
caucuses; but don't go anywhere near this 
coming one unless you wish to make Weeks 
or Draper (probably Weeks) the next Sen- 
ator. 

The machine is headed that way and it is 
not oiled for any other kind of a trip. If you 
don't believe me, try to steer it in the direc- 
tion of Guild and then listen to it wheeze. 
Why, Mr. Washburn, you are said to be of 
Senatorial calibre yourself. Yet, the roller 
would burst an indignant boiler over your 
erratic youthfulness if any one were heard 
to breathe your candidacy at Republican 
headquarters. 

[ 76 n 



TO HON. ROBERT M. WASHBURN 
The fact is that it is about time to relegate 
this wheezy old contraption to the scrap- 
heap. Wine may be better the older it gets. 
"Vintage" wine is certainly the best; but 
Heaven save us battered Republicans from a 
"vintage" machine. 

One word in closing. Do not feel obliged 
to attend any caucus on my account. To be 
sure, I voted the Republican ticket, and there- 
fore, according to the gospellers, I gave you 
a "clear mandate" to attend a caucus and 
vote for Weeks or Draper or some other 
walking delegate of the Political Machinists' 
Brotherhood of Happier Days. I absolve you 
from that imaginary obligation. Like all the 
rest of the Republican voters of Massachu- 
setts, I knew nothing of this "clear man- 
date" business until after I had voted on No- 
vember 5. The Republican Brahmins ought 
to have taken us into their confidence ear- 
lier. Before election, oysters were chatter- 
boxes as compared with the steam roller 
engineers. 

L 77 ] 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
With assurances of my real respect for you 
and for your trusty sword, I am 
Sincerely yours 

A. P. Gardner 

To His Wife 

House of Representatives y U.S. 
Washington^ D.C. 

April 9^ 1913 

Well, the great ceremony is over and Pres- 
ident Wilson has revived a custom one hun- 
dred and twenty-odd years old, etc. There 
has been no end of newspaper comment. The 
papers here say that he was cheered when 
he mounted the steps of the Speaker's dais. 
Not a word of truth in it. 

The plain facts are these : It was a very 
graceful little ceremony to which we were 
treated. First, the Senate filed in and was 
seated. Then the President arrived escorted 
by a committee and was received by House 
and Senate standing. He was greeted with 
respectful handclapping, mostly from the 
Democratic side of the House. 



TO HIS WIFE 

The President's speech was admirably de- 
livered. He was the typical American gentle- 
man and college President every minute of 
the time. I could scarcely dissociate him from 
Eliot,! so strong is the similarity of their de- 
livery and manner. 

The address itself was a pleasant bit of 
literature; I do not say "literary effort" be- 
cause no trace of effort appeared. If I were 
to criticise, I should say that the elements of 
study and definiteness were entirely lacking. 

On the whole, the new President created 
a very pleasing impression. After he had fin- 
ished there was another round of handclap- 
ping in which many Republicans joined. In 
fact, I myself overcame my party prejudices 
sufficiently to applaud. 

I see no reason why President Wilson 
should not address Congress in person if he 
so desires. On the other hand, I see no rea- 
son why he should desire to do so. 

! Charles William Eliot, President Emeritus of Har- 
vard University. 

I 79 ] 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 

To Hon. William H. Moody * 

Washington, January 6, 1914 

My dear Predecessor: 
I AM very much ashamed that I did not find 
time to get to see you before I returned to 
Washington after election. The fact is, how- 
ever, that I did not visit Haverhill at all this 
fall ; — not because I was too lazy, but be- 
cause something always intervened. 

Washington seems like a bad dream. 
Pretty much all the old crowd, men and 
women, are gone. Smug Democrats every- 
where. Even those Democrats whom we 
used to like are now hard to bear. As for 
those Democrats whom we could not stand, 
they are less standable than ever. 

Oscar Underwood looks as if he had swal- 
lowed a canary. Swagar Sherley 2 patronizes 

1 Hon. William H. Moody of Haverhill, Member of 
Congress, Secretary of the Navy, Attorney-General, Jus- 
tice of the Supreme Court. Died 1917. 

2 Hon. Swagar Sherley, a prominent Democratic Mem- 
ber of Congress from Kentucky. 

C 80 ] 



Augustus Peabody Gardner 

As a Member of Congress 
Copyright by Harris & Ewing, Washington, D.C. 



TO HON. WILLIAM H. MOODY 
me as if I were a promising schoolboy, and 
I have no Nick Longworthi to help me 
snicker behind the backs of the beggars on 
horseback. 

Jim Mann 2 is an excellent leader. More 
than half his followers are radical (or feel 
so at present). Jim is only radical in spots, 
and not in very many spots at that. Yet you 
would be surprised to know how much the 
boys think of him. 

Mann fights like a general who cleverly 
commands a beaten army in retreat. He 
never unnecessarily exposes his troops on 
the cold hillside of a Yea and Nay vote, and 
he succeeds in harassing the enemy not a 
little. At heart I think that Mann's belief is 
that the true Republican policy is to mark 
time until something happens. He might be 
correct if it were true that the Republican 

* Hon. Nicholas Longworth, Congressman from Ohio. 
He had just lost his seat, but came back to Congress 
two years later. 

^ Hon. James R. Mann, Republican minority leader 
from Illinois. 

L 81 : 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
Party is a conservative party, v^hile the 
Democratic Party and the Progressive Party 
are radical parties. That is not a correct pos- 
tulate, however. Moreover, I doubt if it ever 
becomes so. 

How can the Republican Party in the long 
run be successful as an unmitigated conserv- 
ative party seeing that circumstances prevent 
it from availing itself of any conservative 
force south of Maryland ? Personally, I be- 
lieve that old Disraeli was right, and that 
statesmanship consists in keeping the party 
line of demarcation perpendicular instead of 
horizontal. 

Of course, I do not think that the Repub- 
lican Party can go into an auction in radical- 
ism with the Democrats and Progressives. 
We should be ridiculous if we tried to beat 
the others at their own game. Nevertheless, 
it is my opinion that we make a mistake 
when we turn the cold cheek of the doctri- 
naire towards projects which have elsewhere 
in the world attained at least sufficient sue- 

i: 82 ■} 



TO HIS DAUGHTER 
cess to give their advocates a foothold in 
argument. 

With best wishes, I am 

Sincerely yours 

A. P. Gardner 



To His Daughter 

House of Representatives 

Washington^ D.C. 

May 8, 1914 

My dear Took : 

Pray pardon the familiarity of a comparative 
stranger who ventures to address you by 
your sobriquet. 

This epistle is indited as an expression of 
my gratification at the tenor of the communi- 
cation recently received by your respectable 
mother from your quondam warbling in- 
structor. 

It is, indeed, a satisfaction to a parent to 
discover, perchance with a trace of bewilder- 
ment, that his offspring has elected to avail 
herself of the opportunities afforded her, and 

[83 1 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
is in no measure to be accounted as of the 
group which King Lear characterized as more 
acute than a snake's tusk. 

With assurances of my distinguished con- 
sideration and unmeasured affection, I am 
Your humble servant and father 

A. P. Gardner 



Ill 

WAR-TIME ACTIVITIES 

To Sir Cecil Spring-Rice ^ 

London^ England 
August 30, 1914 

Dear Springy : 

The day you left here I went down to Speyer 
Bros, and found them perfectly willing to 
transfer money to their Frankfort or Berlin 
houses, provided that the British Government 
and the German Government both consented. 
This plan proved too cumbersome, but in 
the end money was sent through by the 
British Government to Gerard 2 for the relief 
of British subjects. We were able to send 
the British subscriptions to the Gerard Fund in 
the care of Julius Lay, just appointed Amer- 
ican Consul-General at Berlin. By the way, 

^ Sir Cecil Spring-Rice, British Ambassador to the 
United States, at this time and until 1918. He died in 1918. 

^ Hon. J. W. Gerard, American Ambassador to Ger- 
many. 

C 85 -\ 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
Lay has just come from Rio by way of Per- 
nambuco. He and his wife came here on board 
a British vessel which was held up en route by 
a German cruiser; for some reason, however, 
the Germans allowed the vessel to proceed. 

I have a great deal of respect for Dr. 
Page's 1 judgment and tact. It seems to me 
that some day or other he ought to be useful 
acting as intermediary for peace negotiations. 

Of course, there can be no thought of peace 
at present, but the time is pretty sure to come, 
and may come sooner than we expect, when 
a movement for peace suggested from the 
outside will be reasonably welcomed in the 
same way that Roosevelt's movement was 
welcomed in the Russian -Japanese War. As 
the United States is about the only nation of 
any account that is not involved in this war, 
directly or indirectly, it looks to me as if Pres- 
ident Wilson might find himself in much the 

^ Hon. Walter H. Page, American Ambassador to the 
Court of St. James. He died, after resigning his post, early 
in 1919. 

C 86 ] 



TO SIR CECIL SPRING-RICE 

same position that President Roosevelt was in 
when the Treaty of Peace was concluded at 
Portsmouth. 

I do not believe that there is any man in 
Europe, or anywhere else, who is in a better 
position than Dr. Page to keep President 
Wilson informed as to the situation. Certainly 
Bryan cannot do so, and I doubt if any of the 
American Ambassadors and Ministers in Eu- 
rope, excepting perhaps Herrick,i have the 
capacity. Dr. Page, moreover, is in constant 
touch with Sir Edward Grey. Likewise, al- 
though London is not at present a clearing- 
house for accurate information, nevertheless, 
it comes a great deal nearer being a satis- 
factory clearing-house than any other place 
in Europe. 

I write you all this because I think that 
somebody ought to talk to President Wilson 
about Dr. Page and about the necessity of 
making him a sort of adjutant. 

^ Hon. Myron T. Herrick, at this time American Am- 
bassador to France. 

C 87 H 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
Of course. President Wilson probably 
knows a great deal more about Dr. Page than 
you or I do, but he cannot possibly have so 
good an idea as to just what Dr. Page is doing 
here in London. 

With best wishes, I am 

Sincerely yours 

A. P. Gardner 



To His Wife 

Hamilton^ Mass. 

September 25, 1914 

Dear Constance : 

I FEEL like a pig for not having written you 
since I left London ; but I know you will un- 
derstand how I have been driven. 

I hope you will get the enlistment posters. 
I can assure Colonel Mildmay ^ and the War 
Office that they will not be criticised, nor will 
they be used for any unholy purpose. 

I had a tremendous reception in Hamilton 

* Colonel Herbert St. John Mildmay, British Army, 
retired. 

n 88 ] 



TO HIS WIFE 
when I got back. Probably there were 3000 
people on hand and George Meyer 1 pre- 
sided. I talked about the war and announced 
myself as being very strongly in favor of the 
Allies. The next day I addressed the Essex 
County Association of Grand Army Posts and 
repeated my views. On Monday night I ad- 
dressed a terrific crowd at Gloucester from 
an automobile, and once more laid emphasis on 
the same thing. All this was somewhat risky 
without first sounding the public sentiment; 
but I am thankful to say that I found my dis- 
trict enthusiastically with me on the question. 2 
Your cable of congratulations reached me 
at five o'clock on Tuesday. Inasmuch as, for 
the most part, the polls did not close till eight 
o'clock, I knocked wood at once. The only 
return which arrived previously to your cable- 

* Hon. George v. L. Meyer, of Hamilton; Ambassador 
to Russia and Italy, Postmaster-General, Secretary of the 
Navy. Died 1918. 

^ Mr. Gardner only got back from Europe three days 
before the Republican primaries, where he was a candidate 
for renomination to Congress. 

C 89 1 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
gram was the vote in Essex, where I had a 
preposterously large majority. 

The final result for the district was : Gard- 
ner, 8015 ; Andrew,! 2004. The most striking 
results were in Hamilton and Wenham. Ham- 
ilton I carried 138 to 1 and Wenham 54 to o. 
The latest figures make it seem as if Andrew 
had lost the Progressive nomination as well. 

To His Wife 

Hamilton^ Mass. 

September 27, 1914 

I HAVE not yet told you of my doings since I 
left you at Euston Square Station. 

Horace Washington 2 met me at Liverpool 
and took me to see an Armenian woman, in 
whom I am interested on account of her hus- 
band, who is living in Newburyport. She and 
her baby have been detained in Liverpool 
nearly a year on account of trachoma. 

! Colonel A. Piatt Andrew, of Gloucester, who was 
Mr. Gardner's opponent. 

^ Horace Lee Washington, American Consul at Liver- 
pool. 

C 90 -\ 



TO HIS WIFE 

On board the ship were many delightful peo- 
ple who would not have got to know each other 
under ordinary circumstances ; but our natural 
frigidity had been very much thawed by our 
European experiences. I should say that pretty 
nearly half the passengers had been caught in 
Germany or in Austria when the war broke out. 
Their experiences were mighty interesting. 

For the first few days out many of the 
passengers were very nervous, especially as 
we ran with our portholes shrouded at night 
and did not use the fog-horn even when it 
was very thick. The ship was very crowded 
and filthy. Many of the passengers were 
obliged to sleep in the saloon on account of 
bedbugs. On the other hand, the food was 
excellent ; something which I fear would not 
have interested you very much if you had 
been there, as we had a rough passage. 

Personally I was very comfortable, as there 
were no bugs in the cabin which I shared 
with a charming Philadelphian. His name is 
Wilson Eyre and he is an architect. 

C9i ] 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
The Ambassador asked me to look after 
Madame Vandervelde, which I did as far as 
possible ; but the poor lady was sick most of 
the way. She is the wife of the leader of the 
Socialist Party in Belgium. You may remem- 
ber that he was made a member of the Min- 
istry at the outbreak of the war. Madame 
Vandervelde is an Englishwoman by birth, 
and delighted me by her common sense and 
the absence of " piffle " from her conversation. 
She has come to America to raise funds for 
the relief of the Belgians. We had a first- 
class concert on board ship to help her out and 
we raised over $350. We had three profes- 
sionals and the rest amateurs. The violinist 
and the accompanist were both German sym- 
pathizers, one of them being of German birth 
and the other said to be a Jewess. They took 
the attitude that whoever was in the wrong 
it certainly was not Belgium, and the ship 
company very much appreciated their co- 
operation. 

Quite a number of the passengers on board, 

1 9^ 1 



TO MRS. 

perhaps a quarter, were German sympathiz- 
ers. Of course, the race line was indicated ; but 
by no means in every case. The fact is that a 
good many of the passengers had either been 
living in Germany or had received kind treat- 
ment from the Germans after the war broke 
out. Of course, it is obvious enough that Ger- 
many has made a point of treating Americans 
well since the first few days of the war, and 
that policy had its effect on the passengers. It 
was very noticeable among the children, of 
whom there were a great many on board. Inas- 
much as the game of war was the only one in 
which the children took any interest, you can 
imagine that life was a hell for seasick women. 

To Mrs. 



December 9, 1915 

My dear 

. . • k • • • 

I am of the opinion that now is the time for 
Great Britain to make such concessions to this 
country as her Government feels are compat- 

C 93 n 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
ible with Great Britain's dignity, safety, and 
obligations to her allies. 

I have no doubt whatever that history will 
draw a very clear distinction between the sav- 
agery with which Germany, as we allege, has 
repeatedly violated our rights as human be- 
ings, and the recklessness, as we view it, with 
which Great Britain has violated our rights as 
traders. The fact is, however, that we are deal- 
ing with the editor struggling with present- 
day publicity, and not with the future historian 
in the calm seclusion of his study. Further- 
more, it is to be remembered that for the past 
sixteen months the American people have 
been regaled with nothing except startling 
headlines and superlatives. The period in 
which we could view the international situation 
with a discriminating eye has passed. Nowa- 
days, we apply the word "outrage" to whole- 
sale murder, and we apply the same word to 
the adverse proceedings of a prize court. We 
use the expression "intolerable affront" when 
we describe an explosion in a powder plant, 

C 94 ] 



J 



TO MRS. 

and we apply exactly the same epithet to a re- 
cruiting informality of some British Consul. In 
short, it is really a psychological rather than a 
material atmosphere which envelops our re- 
lations with Great Britain. The British Nation 
has always shown itself better fitted to deal 
with a state of facts rather than with a state 
of mind. Nevertheless, I feel that the time has 
come when it is imperative that an effort be 
made to embrace within the scope of Great 
Britain's vision both the material and the psy- 
chological aspects of the situation. 

The other day a friend of mine, a man in 
public hfe, said to me : " What makes us 
angry is that Great Britain's course somehow 
or other puts on the defensive all of us who 
are her friends. Hardly a day passes without 
the addition of another pin prick inflicted by 
some over-zealous British subordinate." Of 
course, you and I know perfectly well that 
every irritating British act is magnified a hun- 
dredfold through the medium of the intelli- 
gent German press campaign. Nevertheless, 

L 95 2 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
whatever the explanation, the same result is 
being attained as if each sting were devised 
with the express purpose of exasperating us. 

I have known so many Englishmen that I 
have no hesitation in prophes3dng the first 
remark which will be called forth if this let- 
ter is ever read by one of your British friends. 
With a good deal of certainty I predict that 
he will say, " If those damn Yankees think 
that we are going to acknowledge ourselves 
in the wrong, when, as a matter of fact, we 
know that we are in the right, they will find 
themselves very much mistaken." On recon- 
sideration I hope that this primary opinion 
may be modified so as to permit an expres- 
sion somewhat as follows : " After all, what 
is the use of behaving like a hedge-hog. We 
British may be right; in fact, we probably 
are right ; but is it not the part of wisdom to 
help our American friends apply a gag to our 
American enemies?" 

Sincerely yours 

A. P. Gardner 

C 96 1 



TO HIS DAUGHTER 

To His Daughter 

House of Representatives 

Washington^ D.C. 
January 2, 1916 

My very dear Connie : 
I AM quite crazy about you. Your collection 
of German war trophies was just exactly 
what I wanted, as you know. Furthermore, 
you must have taken a lot of trouble. I shall 
wear the U-9 ribbon when I go in swimming 
with the Springy 1 children next summer. It 
will please their Pa ! 

I have just got back from Boston and dur- 
ing my stay in that neighborhood I came to 
the conclusion that the Roosevelt boom is 
getting under way again, probably without 
his consent. 

For a guess the nomination will lie between 
Hughes and Roosevelt. I wish I knew some- 
thing about Hughes. All I know is that he 
wears a beard and stopped horse-racing in 
New York. Neither circumstance appeals to 

* The children of Sir Cecil Spring-Rice. 
C 97 •} 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
me. The machine is getting ready to nomi- 
nate Hughes. 

Your devoted father 

A. P. G. 

To Lord Eustace Percy ^ 

Washington^ D.C. 

February 16, 1916 

My dear Lord Eustace: 
I WAS very much interested in your letter 
of January 20th, although I am not quite 
sure that I get your point of view. When 

I wrote to Mrs. , other matters as well 

as the Blockade question were working in 
my mind. 

At present both Houses of Congress are 
very silent on the European situation. At any 
moment, however, there is likely to be an out- 
break. 

When you see Lord Bryce,^ I wish that you 

^ Lord Eustace Percy, an attache at Washington with 
Lord Bryce, and son of the Duke of Northumberland. 

^ Lord Bryce, formerly Hon. James Bryce and Am- 
bassador at Washington. 

[98] 



TO COLONEL THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
would remember me to him. Life in Wash- 
ington, both to him and to you, must seem 
like a memory of the dim past. Even to me it 
seems a long time since you were Scout Mas- 
ter in this town. 

Sincerely yours 

A. P. Gardner 

To Colonel Theodore Roosevelt 

Hamilton, 3Iass. 

August 22, 1916 

My dear Colonel Roosevelt : 
I DO not know your views as to the merits of 
the questions involved between the railroad 
men and their employers. Personally, I do not 
know whether the railroad men ought to be 
paid more or not; but I am quite sure that 
President Wilson is not stating the issue cor- 
rectly, and I am very much afraid that he is 
getting away with his misstatements. If I un- 
derstand the situation aright, the question of 
eight hours as the maximum work-day is not 
involved. The men are not contending for any 

C99 1 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
change of their hours of labor. They are 
merely contending for a new basis for their 
computation of pay, and they propose to re- 
tain their privilege of working overtime pre- 
cisely as it stands at present.^ 

There is another matter in this campaign 
which I think needs attention. Mr. Hughes 
was inaccurate in his statement of fact relative 
to Mr. Tittman, Chief of the Coast and Geo- 
detic Survey. Whether or not he was right 
about the 104 Civil Service exemptions in this 
same service, I do not know. Now, I am under 
no illusions about the public interest in the 
Classified Civil Service. The only political ad- 
vantage which Mr. Hughes gains in his attacks 
lies in the fact that President Wilson has al- 
ways assumed the virtuous pose with regard 
to the public service. On the other hand, I con- 

1 The first paragraph of this letter, referring to the rail- 
road difficulties of that time, was occasioned by the fact that 
the Adamson Bill was then before Congress. This sinister 
measure was passed and became the so-called "Adamson 
Law"; but it is needless to say that Mr. Gardner voted 
against it. 



TO COLONEL THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
sider it of vital importance for every candidate 
for public office, and in fact for every legis- 
lator, to get the reputation of presenting noth- 
ing but impregnable facts. The reason why I 
bring this matter to your attention is because I 
have heard that Mr. Hughes is going to make 
an attack on Secretary Daniels. I do hope that 
Willcox 1 will prevent him from taking his in- 
formation from the wrong people. I am quite 
positive that a number of men of considerable 
repute, who from time to time give out state- 
ments with regard to the Army and Navy, are 
absolutely incorrect in their facts. My recollec- 
tion is that I noticed a recent statement of Mr. 
Hughes himself with regard to the strength of 
the Regular Army, which showed that he had 
been given confusing information in which 
"minimum strength" and "peace strength'* 
had been mixed up. 

If I were Mr. Willcox, I should suggest to 
Mr. Hughes that he make no statement about 

^ Mr. William Willcox, campaign manager for Mr. 
Hughes. 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
the Navy until he has the citations, book and 
page, instantly available on his desk. 
Sincerely yours 

A. P. Gardner 

To FiNLEY Peter Dunne, Esq.^ 

August 30, 1916 

My dear Peter: 

I AM sending you herew^ith part of the Con- 
gressional Record for August 2 2d and August 
25th. You will find the actual hits made in 
Day Individual Battle Practice this spring in 
the table given in the Record of August 25th. 
These are exactly the figures assigned by 
the umpire on the spot. You will observe 
that in the case of the Kansas, Loidsianay 
Virginia, and Rhode Isla?id, the figures which 
you published in Collier's of August 5th are 
exactly correct. In the case of the J^ebraska, 
however, you credited that ship with one 
more hit than the umpire gave her, and 
you credited the JWw Jersey with three less 

* F. P. Dunne, creator of *'Mr. Dooley." At the 
date of this letter an editorial writer for Coliier^s Weekly. 

[ 102 ] 



TO FINLEY PETER DUNNE, ESQ. 
hits than the umpire reckoned. Now, turn to 
the Record of August asd, first column, and 
you will find the record of shots fired in 
Day Individual Battle Practice. In Collier's 
of August 5th, you debit each of the ships 
with 126 shots. Evidently, this is an error; 
but, after all, it is a very small error, inas- 
much as each of the vessels whose scores 
you quoted fired 105 shots or more. Com- 
bining the figures in the Record of August 
2 2d and the figures in the Record of August 
25th, we find the following results of Day 
Individual Battle Practice this spring, as al- 
lowed by the umpire on the spot (before 
camera corrections were made in the Navy 
Department) : 





Shots 


mis 




Daniels 


Collier's 


Daniels 


Collier's 


Nebraska 


115 
105 
107 
120 
112 
114 


126 
126 
126 
126 
126 
126 


9 

5 

10 

12 

16 

1 


10 
5 


Louisiana 

Virginia 

New Jersey 

Rhode Island . . . 


10 

12 
13 

1 



1: 103 3 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 

I am sorry that my figures were not exact. 
I had them verified as best I could. At all 
events, they are not very far out of the 
way. 

I wish you would particularly note the re- 
sults of Division Practice to be found in the 
Record of August 2 2d, second column. They 
are particularly astounding, especially in the 
case of the J^ehraska and Michigan. The 
Congressional Record shows a dash opposite 
each of these names instead of a zero which 
was the actual score. This latter fact I have 
verified by consulting Admiral Benson, Act- 
ing Secretary of the Navy. It appears that 
the original letter from Secretary Daniels, 
which is reproduced in the Congressional 
Record of August 2 2d, shows zeros opposite 
the names of the Michigan and Nebraska. 

I have read Henry Reuterdahl's letter to 
you, of which the following criticisms are to 
be made : 

1 . Commenting on Mr. Reuterdahl's state- 
ment as to the forty per cent improvement 

C 104 ] 



TO FINLEY PETER DUNNE, ESQ. 
in Elementary Target Practice, the Ele- 
mentary Target Practice in 1914 was very 
bad. I have not read the original of Admiral 
Mayo's report; but my impression is that 
he declared that the Elementary Target Prac- 
tice of 1915 (not 1914) had improved forty 
per cent. At all events, here is an extract 
from the testimony of Captain Sims,i March 
10, 1916 (page 2671, Hearings): 

Captain Sims — Now, as a matter of fact, the 
target practice of last fall, although forty per cent 
better than the target practice of the fall before, is 
still unsatisfactory to a very considerable degree. 
It ought to be about double ; and Admiral Mayo, 
who is in charge of the drilling and target practice 
of the battleships, has so stated in his report, which 
you can get by referring to the Navy Department. 

Mr. Reuterdahl has probably overlooked 
the fact that Elementary Target Practice was 
restored under Meyer 2 in the fall of 1912, 
Secretary Daniels to the contrary notwith- 

^ Now Admiral Sims. 

^ G. V. L. Meyer; in 1912 Secretary of the Navy 
under President Taft. 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
Standing. I have this statement in writing 
from a gunnery expert of tlie Navy, and I 
beheve it to be correct ; but of course, am not 
in a position to prove it. 

2. It is true that Secretary Daniels pub- 
lished the gradings under the Mayo scale. 
It is also true that this was only done after 
Senator Lodge had got a Resolution through 
the Senate demanding it. If these ratings 
were published previous to Senator Lodge's 
Resolution, that fact escaped my notice. 

3. The mere fact that our gunnery ex- 
perts consider our target practice satisfactory 
is by no means convincing. In 1914, in Ele- 
mentary Practice, the 131/2 inch guns of 
the British Battle Cruiser Fleet scored 85.43 
per cent of hits. Our Elementary Practice 
has never approached that figure. As to the 
percentage of hits in the various battles of this 
war, we really know very little about the 
facts. In the Dogger Bank battle, the official 
report leads me to believe that both sides ex- 
pended a lot of ammunition at almost impos- 

[ 106 ] 



TO HIS DAUGHTER 
sible ranges on the chance of disabling the 
adversary by a lucky hit. 

Sincerely yours 

A. P. Gardner 

To His Daughter 

New York, N. Y. 

October '2.% 1916 

Dearest Connie : 

I AM here on a speaking tour of New York 
and New Jersey. The election looks to be a 
pretty close thing, which makes me shudder. 
I never in my life cared one tenth as much as I 
do this year about anything political. If Wil- 
son is elected, it will mean nothing more nor 
less than the triumph of pusillanimity, your 
ambassador to the contrary notwithstanding.! 
I expect a pretty fair majority, although I 
voted against the Adamson Bill and there is 
a big labor vote in my district. My oppo- 
nent, Arthur Howard, has not as yet attacked 
me on my pro- Ally rampage. Hence I think 

! Hon. James W. Gerard, American Ambassador in 
Berlin. 

C 1073 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
that my stand is fairly popular in my dis- 
trict. . . . 

I do not expect Hughes to get the hyphen 
vote. I think BernstorfF is for Wilson. 

To Colonel Roosevelt 

Hamilton^ Mass. 

November 10, 1916 

My dear Colonel: 

I don't know how far you are committed to 
the "League to Enforce Peace " ! but I wish 
you would read the enclosed speech and write 
me your criticisms. 

Evidently a vast amount of money is being 
spent on this propaganda. The purpose of it 
all seems to be to persuade the American peo- 
ple that nations with great military strength, 
little land, and no money will be willing to 
enter into an agreement for the purpose of 
protecting from war the United States, which 
has no military strength, boundless land, and 
untold money. 

Sincerely yours 

A. P. Gardner 

C 1°8] 



TO COLONEL ROOSEVELT 

To Colonel Roosevelt 

Hamilton^ Mass. 

November 14, 1916 

My dear Colonel: 

I AM in receipt of your letter of November 
11th, marked "Private" with two exclama- 
tion points. It is now ashes, so it will meet 
the eyes of no one. 

In case you care for my opinion as to the 
late campaign, it is as follows : If the rest of 
our side had struck the same note as you 
struck, we should have won hands dovvn. The 
note struck by you and your followers, in 
whom I include Bird, i Lodge, and myself, was 
the only feature which distinguished the Re- 
publican campaign from a feeble echo of the 
Democratic campaign. 

Sincerely yours 

A. P. Gardner 

Hon. Charles Sumner Bird, of Massachusetts. 



I 109 2 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 

To His Daughter 

Hamilton, Mass. 

Ncwember 15, 1916 

Dear Connie: 

Elections are horrid things. I just paid a 
bet which I lost by Hughes' defeat. I am 
quite convinced that he could have won if the 
Republican Party had made its fight along 
Roosevelt's line of attack: to wit, Wilson's 
tremulous foreign policy. 

My ovm campaign I fought on exactly 
those lines. I linked Wilson v^th King Con- 
stantine, who likewise kept his country out of 
war, and I contrasted the pair with Lincoln 
and King Albert, both of whom plunged their 
country into war. I was bitterly criticised. It 
was said that I was clamoring for a break 
with Germany, which is practically true. I 
was accused of a desire to force this country 
into war, which is not true. But, when the 
votes were counted I had 21,905 votes against 
my Democratic opponent's 8563 votes. I 
exceeded my plurality of two years ago by 



TO HIS DAUGHTER 
over iioo votes. I had the biggest plurality 
of any Congressman from Massachusetts. I 
ran 10,000 votes ahead of Hughes in this 
district and 7000 votes ahead of McCall.i 
All of which I write you not out of vanity; 
but because I believe that my vote indicates 
that hereabouts the pro- Ally sentiment is deep 
and strong while the pro-Boche sentiment is 
weak and noisy. 

We have eight little pigs on one of which 
I hope to give Thanks. Over another of them 
I hope to throw lip at Xmastide. 

Biddle's 2 two surviving puppies are thriv- 
ing. All of these details I send you by way 
of a lure to the tempting domesticity of Saga- 
more Farm. Beleaguered as you are in Berlin, 
the only effect which I produce on you is 
likely to be a sensation of hunger. 

^ Hon. Samuel W. McCall, at that time Governor of 
Massachusetts. 

^ Biddle is a dog. 



IV 

THE ARMY AGAIN 

To His Wife 

Headquarters Eastern Department 
Govemor''s Island, New York City 

May 25, 1917 

Dearest Constance : 

"Back to the Army again, Sergeant." I be- 
lieve that I take to the red tape of the Adju- 
tant's Office as a duck takes to water. 

I have a room at the Officers* Club here on 
the Island. At the present moment there is a 
hop going on and the musicians' gallery is just 
outside my bedroom door. Consequently I 
have retired to the silence of the Adjutant's 
Office. 

I don't believe that I shall leave this Island 
much, as the conditions here are good for v^ork 
and health. At my age I have n't much chance 
of getting anywhere except by work or wire- 
pulling. 



TO HIS WIFE 

To His Wife 

Hotel Dempsey^ Macon^ Georgia 
August 28, 1917 

Dearest Constance : 

Thank you so much for your letter. As you 
will see from the heading I am still at a hotel; 
but I move into camp tomorrow. There are no 
troops here as yet, except a few camp guards, 
etc. We are supposed to have a division of 
24,000 men or thereabouts ; but as a matter 
offact there are (confidentially) only 14,000 
National Guardsmen left available in the three 
States of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. Un- 
less we fill up with drafted men I don't know 
what we can do. 

I have six civilian clerks, all inexperienced. 
It has been pretty hard work; but the office is 
now running pretty well. Strange to say, it is 
cool here at night on accoimt of the elevation. 
Atlanta is even cooler. 



t: 113 ■J 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 

To His Wife 

Atlanta^ Georgia 

September 2Zy 1917 

Dearest Constance: 
I HAVE been recommended as one of the offi- 
cers to be sent to France for instruction in 
General Staff work. I have some doubts 
whether the War Department will act for- 
mally, however, as I have a little too much 
rank. However, it is a great compliment to be 
picked by the Division Commander. 

I shall, of course, wire you if I get my 
orders. 

I am up here for a day to see the drafted 
men come in to Camp Gordon. Their spirit is 
fine and they impress me very favorably. 
Camp Gordon is a wonderfully elaborate 
wooden city. I believe it is said to have 
cost $4,000,000 to build. The newcomers 
are being handled admirably without con- 
fusion. 

Georgia certainly has changed a lot. This 
city might be in New Jersey, and Macon like- 

[ 114 ] 



TO HIS WIFE 
wise. They are not nice and old-fashioned like 
South Carolina cities. 

Occasionally, but not often, I see an officer 
(regular) whom I have known before ; but or- 
dinarily nothing but sti'angers, mostly South- 
erners. There are a few Massachusetts officers 
at Macon whom I know, Major Keenan i in 
command of the Ambulance Section. Captain 
Warren, of Boston, with whom I went to Sun- 
day-School at Emmanuel Church, and Captain 
Tandy, who has left us and sailed with Gen- 
eral Edwards' 2 Division. Alty Morgan's son 
is here at Camp Gordon. That about ends the 
list. 

I like the far-southern enlisted men very 
much. Our troops came from Georgia, Florida, 
and Alabama. Many of our Reserve officers 
are from Tennessee. 

^ Now Colonel George F. Keenan, 1919. 
* Major-General Clarence R. Edwards, who com- 
manded the 26th (Yankee) Division in France. 



C 115] 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 

To His Wife 

Headquarters Thirty-Izrst Division 
Camp Wheeler J Ga. 

October 6, 1917 

Dearest Constance : 
I AM taking my inoculation for typhoid and 
para-typhoid, which is necessary in case any- 
thing occurs along the line which I told you 
about in a recent letter. 

My first dose did not bother me at all, 
and I felt as well as could be the next day. 
The second dose has made me feel pretty 
seedy ; but the disagreeable effects will be gone 
tomorrow. 

It is extraordinary how cold the weather 
has been. I went up to Atlanta this last 
week, where the elevation is somewhat higher, 
and was cold in bed with two light blankets 
and a heavy army coat over me. By the 
way, the heavy army coat belonged to E. D. 
Morgan, Jr., who is an aide on General 
Swift's staff. I suspect you know him; you 
certainly know his father, Alty Morgan. 



TO HIS WIFE 
The Captain of the Headquarters Troop 
at Camp Gordon, Atlanta, is a son of Charlie 
Choate.i You remember that his father and 
mother were married the same day that we 
were. He is a splendid-looking young fel- 
low, and the officers at Headquarters told 
me he was very efficient. He came to Fort 
McPherson at the same time as Harold 
Blanchard,2 unless I am mistaken. 

To His Wife 

Headquarters TTiirty-First Division 
Camp Wheeler^ Ga. 

October 22, 1917 

Dear Constance: 

About 6500 drafted men have been sent to 
this division. When all the drafted men who 
are due have arrived, the division will still be 
5000 short or thereabouts. The situation is 
just this : The War Department started out 
counting on organizing, from the States of 

^ Charles F. Choate, of Boston. Lawyer. 
2 Now Lieutenant-Colonel Harold Blanchard; D.S.C., 
and Croix de Guerre with palm. 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, a National 
Guard division of 26,000-odd men and a 
National Army division of the same size of 
white drafted men. 

The fact was, however, that there were 
only 14,500 National Guardsmen altogether 
in the three States named. Of this number 
3500 were taken for the so-called Rainbow 
Division, leaving 11,000 for us. There were 
still supposed to be over 20,000 drafted 
white men who could be called upon to fill 
out gaps; but the 20,000 has dwindled down 
to 9500. The sum and substance of it all is: 
three States which were expected to form 
two divisions, in reality are able to form a 
good deal less than a single division. 

The drafted troops last week came largely 
from the 8 2d Division at Camp Gordon. 
Who should turn up in command of a train 
load of them but Harold Blanchard ! I was 
standing on a table in the warehouse where 
the newcomers were being assigned when I 
heard a famihar voice address me as Colonel. 
C "8 ] 



TO HIS WIFE 
I had not the slightest idea that Harold was 
within a thousand miles; I had supposed, of 
course, that he was at Camp Devens. I have 
been over to Camp Gordon twice without 
seeing him or hearing of him, and yet it ap- 
pears that he has been there for two months 
commanding a battalion of the 324th In- 
fantry. He dined at the mess here and re- 
turned to Atlanta at once. He is looking 
well. Of course he was sure to be a good 
soldier. 



To His Wife 

Headquarters TTiirty-First Division 
Camp IVheeler, Ga. 
October 29 - November 5, 1917 

My dear Constance : 
My tent has gradually converted itself into a 
house v^th a canvas roof. The walls have been 
boarded up from the floor until they reach 
the eaves. A wooden extension has grown up 
behind, and in it is a stove, and above the stove 
is a glass window. What with wooden shelves 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
running around three sides, and a wooden floor 
and a wooden platform in front, together with 
electric lights, I hardly feel as if it were a 
tent at all. 

There has been a great deal of pneumonia 
in camp and nearly everybody has had a cold. 
The weather has been very cold and many 
of the soldiers have insufficient equipment. 
The drafted men are still coming in, but there 
is no prospect, at present, of a division at full 
strength. 

In the strictest confidence we have our orders 
to sail in December ( date unknown ) . When 
we move I shall, of course, be with the troops 
every minute unless we are concentrated at 
Tenafly, New Jersey, or something of the 
sort. I do not know whether or not we sail 
from New York. It may be necessary for you 
to come to me to say Good-bye; but I can 
tell you more about it later. 

Your letter of November 2d here just now. 
I do not know whether I am glad to go. I 
try not to reckon in the old terms of thought 
[ 120 ] 



Augustus Peabody Gardner 

At Camp Wheeler, Macon, Georgia, November, 1917 



TO HON. JOSEPH P. TUMULTY 
until the war is over. I hope I am ready for 
anything. 

To Hon. Joseph P. Tuiviulty 

[In May, 1917, just before Major Gardner was 
sworn into the service of the United States, we 
met Mr. Tumulty, Secretary to the President, 
at luncheon. He and Major Gardner had some 
talk, and finally Mr. Tumulty said that if at any 
time Major Gardner had occasion to express his 
views, otherwise than through military channels, he 
wished that the Major would write to him. The 
understanding was that any letter written under 
such circumstances would be brought to the atten- 
tion of the Administration. 

After Major Gardner's death I found the follow- 
ing letter, a carbon copy of the original, in his 
files. I need hardly say that it has never before 
been made public. — C. G.] 

December 1, 1917 

Dear Mr. Tumulty: 
Before I left Washington you suggested to 
me at Mrs. McLean's that I should write 
you if I felt that there was any occasion to 
express my views otherv^se than through 
military channels. 

[ 121 ] 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
Taking advantage of this suggestion I am 
writing you a few words about health condi- 
tions and the Base Hospital at Camp Wheeler. 
The danger is that some one may be dealt 
with unjustly and be loaded with the responsi- 
bility for a situation over which he had no 
control whatever. 

There have been loo deaths from pneu- 
monia and 1 1 deaths from other causes at 
this camp. Of this number 96 have occurred 
within the last three weeks. To my mind 
the explanation is fairly simple. The follow- 
ing are the conditions as I see them : 

Between October 16th and 30th, we re- 
ceived about 10,000 drafted men from Camp 
Gordon, Camp Pike, and Camp Jackson. 
With the exception of about 3000 from Camp 
Pike, they came without overcoats, in cotton 
outer garments, and cotton underclothes; 
some without blouses. None of them had had 
experience in sleeping out of doors and none 
were accustomed to camping out. They went 
from their homes in September to the Na- 
l 122 ] 



TO HON. JOSEPH P. TUMULTY 
tional Army cantonment, where they were 
housed in warmed barracks. From these 
cantonments they came here without any 
toughening; arrived in camp when cold 
weather prevailed and where the air in the 
tents was damp at night ; with spirits depressed 
and all the feeling of strangeness which tends 
to reduce a man's vitality. Being from rural 
areas, many had never had measles, and this 
disease spread rapidly. Better soil in which 
to sow the seeds of pneumonia could not be 
imagined. 

The Base Hospital at Camp Wheeler is 
calculated for 500 patients, and over three 
times this number of sick men was of neces- 
sity thrust upon it. It is true that the bulk 
of the cases were cases of measles; but 
measles is a disease by no means to be treated 
lightly under these circumstances. For a while 
the number of nurses was entirely insufficient, 
and of course there was the confusion and 
deficiency incident to a contingency not fore- 
seen when the Base Hospital was designed. A 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
glance at the consolidated clothing and equip- 
ment chart of this division for October 30th in 
my mind is a good deal more enlightening 
than reams of reports. The enlisted strength 
of the division on October 30th vi^as 18,155 
men. At that time there had been issued to 
the command w^arm clothing as follows : 

Overcoats 9,952 

Woolen breeches 4,592 

Woolen coats 3,900 

Woolen drawers 3,873 

Woolen undershirts . . . . 3,675 

I no more blame the Quartermaster-Gen- 
eral than I blame the authorities in this camp. 
The fact is that the industries of this country 
v^ere not in shape to turn out woolen cloth- 
ing fast enough. That is about all there is to 
it. I suppose that many people believe that 
these long delays in furnishing supplies are 
due to " red tape." Undoubtedly "red tape" 
has something to do with it. In our endeav- 
ors to enforce economy and prevent specula- 
tion, we have thrown so many legislative 
and regulative safeguards and counterchecks 

I 124 ] 



TO HIS WIFE 
around expenditures that we have emphati- 
cally retarded action. 
With best wishes, I am 

Very truly yours 

A. P. Gardner 

Adjutant-General 
Division Adjutant 

P.S. Any one who supposes this part of 
Georgia to be warm is very much mistaken. 

To His Wife 

Camp Wheelevy Ga. 
December 27, 1917 

Dearest Constance: 

Your bully Christmas present i came today 
and I am proudly wearing it at the present 
moment. It is a beauty, and I much prefer a 
pigskin strap. 

How I should have loved to be with you 
on Christmas. Think of us with a brace of 
grandchildren on our hands! Well, here's 

^ A wrist watch. 
C 125 ] 



LETTERS OF AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER 
hoping that next Christmas will find us all 
together. 

I have been having a good deal of difficulty 
with my Battalion, owing to absences with- 
out leave and one cause or another. The fact 
is that there has been no Major on duty with 
my four companies for some time past, prac- 
tically speaking. 

This is one of my best personal efforts on 
a typewriter, so no army field clerk is ad- 
mitted to our secrets. 



To His Daughter 

121st Infantry, U. S. Camp Wheeler, Ga. 
December 28, 1917 

Dearest Connie: 

Think of you with a brace of Kids.i Why, 
you ridiculous person! You are not old 
enough to be married even. 

I have shifted over to the Infantry, as you 
probably know. It is a good deal better job 

* His daughter's second child was two weeks old at 
this date. 



C 126 ] 



TO HIS DAUGHTER 
to be in command of men than to be in com- 
mand of basketsful of papers. However, to 
lose two grades in seven months is going 
some. 

When we shall get away is a puzzle. We 
are over 5000 men short of a full division 
and no new men coming, owing to the fact 
that we have been infected with measles and 
pneumonia rampant. 

Good-bye and God bless you and yours, 
Connie. 



CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS 
U . S . A 



-7 



